LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


^^iJjOs^iAk  %X^^^^^>^5^^ 


(From  his  last  photograph,  October,  1868.) 
[Filson  and  Son,  Steubenville,  O.] 


EDWIN  McMASTERS 
STANTON 


THE  AUTOCRAT  OF 


Rebellion,  Emancipation,  and  Reconstruction 


Whato'or  they  call  him  —  what  care  I  ? 

Aristocrat,  Democrat,  Autocrat  1 1 
He  was  one  who  Ruled  but  dared  not  Lie. 


In  the  hands  of  one  entirely  great. 
The  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword. 


FRANK  ABIAL  FLOWER 


"History  Republican  Party,"  "Life  of  Matthew  H.  Car- 
penter," "Old  Abe,"  "Eye  of  the  Northwest,"  "Profit- 
Sharing  in  America,"  "Industrial  Wisconsin,"  "Basis  for 
International  Cooperation,"  "International  Deep  Waterways," 
"Reminiscences  of  General  Herman  Haupt,"  etc. 


PROFUSEL  Y  ILL  US  TRA  TED 


Akron,  Ohio 

THE   SAALFIELD   PUBLISHING   COMPANY 
New  York  1905  Chicago 


Copyright.  1905, 

BY 

THE  SAALFIELD  PUBLISHING  CO. 


THE    WERNER    COMPANY 
AKRON.    OHIO 


■D 


Li  NCOl-N 


\}  ■''■  0  0r»- 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Prefatory  Comment   17 

L— Mountain  Peaks   19 

II. — A  Puny  Babe — Heroic  Surroundings   23 

III. — In  Kenyon  College   27 

IV. — Work,  Law,  Slavery  30 

V. — Settles  in  Cadiz — Marries    32 

VI. — Returns  to  Steubenville — Active  in  Politics 36 

VII.— Death  of  His  Idols   38 

VIII. — Great   Cases — A  Tragedy 42 

IX. — Steubenville  Anecdotes  and  Reminiscences 46 

X. — In   Pittsburg — Wheeling  Bridge   Case    53 

XI. — Other  Important  Litigation — Meets  Lincoln   60 

y-                         XII. — Second  Marriage — California  Land  Cases  66 

^                        XIII.— Trial  of  Daniel  E.  Sickles  73 

:>                        XIV.— A  New  Home— Election  of  1860 79 

'■^                           XV.— A  Seething  Caldron    82 

.^                         XVI. — A   Remarkable   Memorandum    88 

XVII.— Gigantic  Battle  for  the  Union  96 

XVIII. — Letters  to  Buchanan — Lincoln  Excoriated   105 

XIX. — Resumes  the  Law — Appointed  War  Minister 114 

XX.— Work  for  a  Titan 118 

1                         XXL— Opening  Intercourse  With  McClellan   121 

XXIL— An  Era-Creating  Order  127 

L                      XXIII.— Arbitrary  Arrests— General   Stone    133 

XXIV. — Succeeds   McClellan   as   General-in-Chief    138 

XXV.— The  Famous  "Morning  Hour"   143 

XXVL— Approves  McClellan's  Plans   146 

XXVIL— Captures  Norfolk  152 

XXVIIL— The  Lofty  Dyer  Letter   157 

XXIX.— Creates  and  Fights  a  Navy 163 

XXX.— A  Mutilated  Telegram  Saves  McClellan   166 

XXXL— McClellan's  Threat  to  Surrender   169 

XXXII.— Great  Battle  With  the  Pen— Pope  Slaughtered   172 

XXXIII.— An  Everlasting  Indictment— McClellan  Reinstated   ...  176 

XXXIV. — Slaves — Stanton  the  Real  Emancipator   182 

XXXV.— McClellan  Relieved— Stanton  Vindicated    191 

XXXVI. — Disappointed  in  Meade  at  Gettysburg  . 198 

XXXVIL— A  Thrilling  Rescue— Rosecrans  Saved  203 

XXXVIII.— Newspaper    Hostility— War   Diary    208 

XXXIX.— Perfect  Autocracy— The  Military  Telegraph  216 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XL.— Still  the  Autocrat— Military  Railroads  223 

XLI. — Prisoners  of  War — A  Heart-Breaking  Duty  229 

XLII. — Raising  Troops — Fearful  Draft  Riots  240 

XLIIL— The  Fire  in  the  Rear  249 

XLIV. — Hampton  Roads  Peace  Conference  257 

XLV. — The  Surrender — A  Rescuing  Hand   259 

XLVI. — Lincoln's  Colossal  Blunder  Rectified    269 

XLVn. — Celebrating  and  Rejoicing    273 

XLVIIL — Lincoln  Assassinated — Stanton  as   Acting-President..   276 

XLIX. — Conspirators  Captured  and  Executed   285 

L. — Grand   Review — Sherman's  Affront — Disbandment    .  . .   288 

LI. — Faithful  Lieutenants  293 

LIL — Inaugurates  Reconstruction — Military  Governors    ....   296 

LIIL— Parting  of  the  Ways  300 

LIV. — Turmoil— Rescuing  Grant 305 

LV. — "Swinging  Around  the  Circle" — Great  Letter  to  Ashley  309 

LVI. — -Victorious  Over  Johnson  and  His  Advisers 315 

LVII. — A  Patriotic  Conspiracy   320 

LVIIL— A  Brief  Respite— The  McCardle  Case   324 

LIX. — Answers  the  President  328 

LX. — Besieged  by  the  President   331 

LXI. — Congress  at  Stanton's  Feet 336 

LXII. — Impeachment  Fails — Stanton  Retires,  out  of  Funds   .  .    340 

LXI II. —War  Office  Secrets  and  Episodes    345 

LXIV.— Religion  as  a  War  Force   371 

LXV. — Grant's    Criticisms — Inside    History    376 

LXVI. — Heroic  Politics — Great  Speeches  for  Grant   391 

LXVII. — A  Struggling  Wreck — Supreme  Bench  399 

LXVIIL— Death   408 

LXIX.— Property— Last  Will  411 

LXX. — 'Sidelights — Gleams  of  Character    414 

LXXL— Storm-Swept    426 


INDEX  TO  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Andrew,  Gov.  John  A 154 

Andrews,  Eliphalet  F 44 

Anderson,  Gen.   Robert   100 

Andersonville   Prison    232 

Arnold,  Samuel   280 

Ashley,  James  M.,  M.  C 188 

Atzerot,   Geo.   A 280 

Autograph    Letter    356 


Badeau,  Gen.  Adam    266 

Banks,  Gen.  N.  P 140 

Barlow,  Samuel  L.  M 123 

Barnes,  Gen.  James  K 200 

Batcheller.  Capt.  Chas  W 362 

Bates,  D.  Homer 220 

Bates,    Edward    130 

Beatty,  Mrs.  Hetty   44 

Bingham,  John  A.,  M.  C 188 

Black,  Jeremiah  S.,    80 

Blair,  Gen.  Francis  P 158 

Blair,  Montgomery    130 

Booth,  John  Wilkes    274 

Boutwell,  Geo.  S 338 

Boyce,  W.  W.,  M.  C 164 

Breckinridge,  John   C 64 

Bronson,  Sherlock  A.,  D.  D 374 

Brough,    John    244 

Buchanan,   Rev.   Geo 374 

Buchanan,  James    80 

Buchanan,  Rev.  Joseph    374 

Buchanan,  Wm.  Stanton   50 

Butler,  Gen.  B.  F 74 

C 

Cameron,    Simon    116 

Campbell,  Judge  John  A 108 

Carpenter,  Matthew  H.,  U.  S.  S 206 

Cartter,  Judge  David  K 206 

Cass,    Lewis     80 

Castle    Thunder    384 

Chalmers,  Gen.  Joseph  W.,  C.  S.  A 164 

Chandler,  Albert   B 212 

Chase,  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Philander   36 

Chase,   Salmon   P 116 

Clemson,  Mrs.  Margaret  W 34 

Cobb,   Howell    80 

Cochrane,  Gen.  John i4o 


Collier,   Daniel    L 34 

Confederate  "Quaker"  (Wooden)  Guns  144 

Corbett,   Boston    154 

Corey,  James  B 362 

Corning,    Erastus    294 

Coyle,  John  Francis    362 

Curtin,    Gov.   Andrew   G 294 

Gushing,  Caleb    323 

D 

Dana,  Chas.  A 148 

Davis,  Jefferson    86 

Davis,  Jefferson,  a  captive   298 

Dawes,  Henry  L.,  M.  C 206 

Dawson,  Col.  N.  E 266 

Dennison,   William    244 

Dewey,    Chauncey    50 

Dickerson.   E.   N 58 

Dix,  Gen.  John  A 80 

Dixon,  James,  U.  S.  S 346 

Douglas,  Stephen  A 412 

Dyer,  Bishop  Heman   374 


Early,  Gen.  Jubal  A.,  C.  S.  A 164 

Eckert,  Gen.  Thos.  T 212 

Ellet,  Col.  Chas 100 

Emerson,   Ralph    58 

Evarts,  William  M 322 

Execution  of  Capt.  Henry  Wirz   238 

Execution  of  the  Lincoln  Conspirators   286 


Fessenden,  Wm.  Pitt   ISO 

Filson,    Davison    44 

Floyd,  John  B 64 

Forrest,  Gen.  Nathan  B 164 

Fremont,  Gen.  John  C 140 

Fry,  Gen.  James  B 392 

G 

Garrett,  John  W 226 

Grand  Review,  Washington,  D.  C 290 

Grant,  Gen.  U.  S 262 

Grimes,  James  W.,  U.  S.  S 346 

H 

Halleck.  Gen.   H.  W 158 

Hancock,  Gen  Winfield  S 262 

Hardie,  Gen.  James  A 100 

Harding,  Geo 58 

Harper,    John    . .  . .  34 

Haupt,  Gen.  Herman   148 

Henderson,  J.  B.,  U.  S.  S 346 

Herold,  David  E 280 

Hewitt,  Abram   S '                        412 

Hill,  Gen.  D.  H '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.  UA 

Holt,  Judge  Jos 200 

Hooker,  Gen.  Joseph    386 

Hughes,  Archbishop  John    100 

Hunter,  Robert  M.  T 86 


J 

Jackson,  Gen.  T.  J.    (Stonewall)  164 

Johnson,  Maj.  A.  E.  H 148 

Johnson,  President  Andrew  310 

Johnson,    Reverdy    58 

Johnston,  Gen.  Joseph  E 164 


K 

Kenyon  College    28 

King,  Horatio    64 


Lamon,  Ward  H 362 

Lee,  Gen.  Robert  E 194 

Libby  Prison   174 

Lieber,  Dr.  Francis   100 

Lincoln   Conspirators    280 

Lincoln,   Portrait   of    276 

Lincoln's  Private  Car  at  City  Point,  Va 258 

Lincoln's  Visit  to  McClellan   170 

Logan,  John  A 338 


Magruder,  John  B 144 

Managers  Johnson's  Impeachment  Trial  338 

Manny,  John  H 58 

Marcy,   Gen.   Randolph    B 386 

Mason,  James  M 108 

McCallum,  D.   C 158 

McClellan,  Gen.  Geo.  B 158 

McCook,  Geo.  W 50 

McCormick,  Cyrus  H 58 

McCrary,   Thos 34 

McCulloch,   Ben    86 

McCulloch,    Hugh    346 

McFadden,    H.    S 34 

Meade,  Geo.  G 158 

Meigs,   Gen.   Montgomery   C 200 

Milligan,   L.   P 250 

Moorhead,  Gen.  J.  K.,  M.  C 188 

Morton,  Oliver   P 206 

Mullen,  John    44 

O 

O'Brien,   Richard    212 

O'Laughlin,    Michael    280 

Old   Capitol   Prison    350 

Ould,  Robert  323 


Payne,    Lewis    280 

Peppard,   S.    G 50 

Pierrepont,    Edwards    412 

Pillow,  Gideon  J 144 

Porter,  Fitz  John   154 

President  Buchanan's  Cabinet   64-80 

President  Lincoln's  Cabinet   116-130 


R 

Randall,  Alexander  W 322 

Reagan,  John  H 86 

Rosecrans,   Gen.   Wm.    S 386 

Ross,  Edmund  G.,  U.  S.  S 346 


Saxton,  Gen.  Rufus   74 

Schenck,  Gen.  Robert  C 262 

Schofield,    Gen.   John   M 270 

Scott,  Thomas  A 226 

Seward,  Wm.   H 116 

Seymour,  Gov.  Horatio   294 

Sherman,  Gen.  Wm.  T 266 

Sickles,  Gen.  Daniel  E.,  74 

Simpson,  Bishop  Matthew    374 

Slidell,    John    108 

Smith,  Caleb  B 116 

Somers,  L.  A 212 

Spangler,   Edward    280 

Sparrow,   Rev.  Wm 28 

Speed,  James   130 

Stager,   Gen.   Anson    212 

Stanbery,  Henry 322 

Stanton,  Attorney-General    80 

Stanton's  Birthplace    24 

Stanton's    Cadiz    Home    40 

Stanton's  Indictment  of  McClellan   180 

Stanton's  Law  Partners  50 

Stanton,  Secretary  of  War  130 

Stanton's   Steubenville  Home    40 

Stanton's  Tomb    420 

Stanton's  Washington  Home  24 

Steubenville,   O.,    Courthouse    40 

Stevens,    Thaddeus    412 

Stone,  Gen.  C.  P 158 

Stuart,  Gen.  J.  E.   B 144 

Sumner,  Charles,  U.  S.  S 188 

Surratt,  John  H 274 


Tappan,  Benjamin,  U.  S.  S 50 

Taylor,    Alfred    44 

Telegraph  Corps,  U.  S.  Military 212,  220 

Thomas,  Gen.   Lorenzo    200 

Thomas,  Philip  F. 64 

Thompson,   Jacob    64 

Tinker,  Chas.  A 220 

Tod,    David    244 

Toombs,  Robert   108 

Toucey,   Isaac    64 

Townsend,  Gen.  E.  D 392 

Trescot,  Wm.  H 206 

Trumbull,    Lyman    412 

Tucker,  John   136 

Turnbull,  James    44 

U 

Umbstaetter,   Theobald    50 

Usher,  John  P 116 


V 

Vallandigham,  Clement  L.,  M  .C 250 

Vanderbilt,   Cornelius    2^5 

VanVliet,  Gen.  Stewart    154 

Van  Winkle,  Peter  G.,  U.  S.  S 346 

Viele,  Gen.  Egbert  L 100 

Vincent,  Gen.  Thos.  M 39^ 

Vote  on  Johnson's  Impeachment  34U 

W 

War  Department  Buildings    404 

Watson,  Peter  H    294 

Weitzel,  Gen.  Godfrey   ^«o 

Weld,  Rev.  Theodore  D 374 

Welles,  Gideon   1^" 

Whiting,    Wm 39- 

Wigfall,  Louis  T »" 

Wilkes,  Admiral  Charles   i^* 

Williams,  Thos 3d» 

Wilson,   James    3^^ 

Wilson,  Wm.  Bender   ^l^ 

Wood,  Fernando,  M.  C f^" 

Wool,  Gen.  John  E 1^0 


PREFATORY  COMMENT 


A  Life  of  James  Buchanan,  as  president,  ends  with  the  open- 
ing chapter  of  Secession,  and  many  of  the  most  vital  facts  in  even 
that  pregnant  movement  have  been  omitted  by  his  biographers. 

A  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  as  president,  begins  after  Seces- 
sion had  become  so  far  an  accomplished  fact  as  to  possess  a  formal 
government  with  Jefferson  Davis  at  its  head,  and  ends  before  the 
Insurrection  had  fully  subsided,  or  Reconstruction  had  been  begun. 

A  Life  of  Andrew  Johnson,  as  president,  covers  the  constructive 
portion  merely  of  the  turbulent  era  of  Reconstruction. 

A  Life  of  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  however,  embraces  all  of  the 
periods  named  and  gives,  as  by  a  search-light  from  within,  the  only 
story  of  those  prodigious  epochs  that  is  not  disconnected  or  frag- 
mentary, or  in  some  feature  misleading. 

Since  this  is  true  it  is  exceedingly  unfortunate  that  Mr.  Stan- 
ton kept  no  private  letter-books  and  (purposely,  as  I  believe,)  left 
no  material  for  the  use  of  biographers  which  they  cannot  find  in  the 
official  records  or  see  in  his  public  acts.  This  peculiarity  rendered 
the  labor  of  compiling  even  a  single  volume  that  was  planned  to 
give  a  true  picture  of  what  he  really  did,  prolonged  and  difficult. 

Fifty  volumes  like  this  would  hardly  suffice  to  tell  all  that 
might  be  told,  but  enough  that  is  new  has  been  squeezed  into  these 
covers  to  annihilate  much  that  heretofore  has  been  accepted  as 
"history"  and  reverse  the  positions  of  many  of  the  foremost  actors 
of  the  century.  Every  important  statement  is  founded  upon  in- 
controvertible public  records  or  the  testimony  of  actual  witnesses 
of  the  highest  character. 

Personal  evidence  is  given  in  the  language,  essentially,  in 
which  it  was  communicated.  Such  information  as  was  not  fur- 
nished in  writing,  but  orally,  was  invariably  reduced  to  manuscript 
and  submitted  to  the  givers  for  revision  and  approval,  and  appears 
herein  thus  revised  and  approved. 

The  Stanton  letters,  nearly  all  of  which  are  new  to  the  public, 
were,  in  the  main,  contributed  in  the  original  by  persons  to  whom 
they  were  written ;  otherwise  in  the  form  of  copies  carefully  cor- 
rected by  comparison  with  the  originals. 

The  story  is  given  in  epochs,  or  is  subdivided  according  to 
momentous  subjects,  for  the  express  purpose  of  enabling  the  reader 
to  study  Stanton's  Desperate  Struggle  to  save  the  Union  under 
Buchanan,  the  Emancipation  and  Arming  of  Slaves,  the  Autocratic 
Management  of  Railways  and  Telegraphs,  the  unique  feature  of  an 
Independent  War-Department  Navy,  the  Exasperating  Contest  with 
General  McClellan,  the  Exchange  of  Prisoners  of  War,  the  Assassin- 
ation of  Lincoln,  the  Broil  with  President  Andrew  Johnson,  and 
so  on,  without  being  distracted  in  any  instance  by  the  presence  of 
matter  having  no  pertinence  to  the  subject  immediately  in  hand. 

I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  any  person  who  can  suggest  cor- 
rections or  offer  new  matter. 

Washington,  D.  C,  March,  1905.  F.  A.  F. 


CHAPTER  I, 
MOUNTAIN  PEAKS. 

An  adequate  picture  of  the  mountain  never  comes  from  one  of 
its  own  dwellers.  His  vision  is  so  thoroughly  cut  ofif  by  the  great 
crags  and  crevices  among  which  he  is  hidden  that  he  is  unable  to 
measure  the  height  to  which  its  icy  peak  shoots  into  the  clouds,  or 
the  extent  to  which  its  broadening  base  stretches  down  to  the  sea. 
He  cannot  consider  truly  how  far  its  jagged  shoulders  overtop  or 
are  flanked  and  supported  by  the  surrounding  hills,  nor  point  out 
how  its  everlasting  walls  cause  rivers  to  shift  their  courses  to  the 
ocean  and,  by  changing  the  pathway  of  advancing  storms,  create 
alternate  droughts  and  floods  in  the  wide  plains  below. 

So  with  a  panorama  of  the  Rebellion.  It  connot  be  true  in 
proportion  or  color  until  the  limner,  by  the  ripening  lapse  of  time, 
shall  have  become  so  far  removed  from  its  mighty  outlines  that  he 
can  correctly  distinguish  between  little  things  and  big;  between 
events  which  were  vital  and  those  which  were  merely  bulky ;  be- 
tween movements  which  were  decisive  and  those  which  were  non- 
essential ;  between  man  and  man,  general  and  general,  plan  and 
plan,  luck  and  foresight. 

Already  enough  of  that  time  has  elapsed  so  that  indisputably 
the  most  majestic  civil  figure  observable  in  the  Rebellion  horizon 
is  that  of  Edwin  McAIasters  Stanton,  Attorney-General  in  the 
cabinet  of  James  Buchanan  and  Secretary  of  War  in  the  cabinets 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Andrew  Johnson. 

He  was  the  dominating  spirit  and  power  in  the  quaking  Re- 
public during  nearly  seven  of  its  most  tumultuous  and  eventful 
years.  Everybody  knew  and  felt  it  then — not  only  the  masses  but 
courts,  executive  departments,  Congress,  the  markets,  maritime 
operations,  disloyal  not  less  than  loyal  States,  and  the  White  House. 

Those  of  to-day  will  have  the  same  feeling  when  they  become 
fully  cognizant  of  the  facts  set  forth  in  the  following  condensed 
summary  of  the  greatest  of  Stanton's  great  achievements : 


20  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

1.  He  established,  by  the  ever-famous  Wheeling  Bridge  Case, 
national  sovereignty  over  all  internal  navigable  waters ; 

2.  Settled,  by  the  Pennsylvania  State  Canal  and  Railway 
Cases,  the  right  of  the  people  to  control  all  methods  of  public  trans- 
portation ; 

3.  Prevented  the  army  of  California  claimants  from  looting 
the  Pacific  coast; 

4.  By  main  strength  upset  President  Buchanan's  negotiations 
with  the  secession  "commissioners"  and  wrecked  the  well-matured 
plans  of  the  South  to  peaceably  dismember  the  Union ; 

5.  In  1862,  as  Secretary,  caused  the  War  Department  to  be 
born  again ; 

6.  Induced  Lincoln  to  assert  the  supremacy  which  the  con- 
stitution gave  to  him  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and 
Navy; 

7.  Created  the  prodigious  industrial  era  which  made  America 
what  it  is,  by  canceling  all  contracts  for  foreign-made  goods  and 
prohibiting  the  purchase  of  any  except  home-made  articles  for 
the  military  forces; 

8.  Inaugurated  military  promotions  for  merit ; 

9.  Flung  so-called  "neutral"  and  disloyal  employes  out  of  the 
public  service ; 

10.  Smote  corrupt  contractors,  hip  and  thigh,  and  relentlessly 
whipped  thieves  and  robbers  out  of  the  army ; 

11.  Organized  the  Military  Telegraph  and  Military  Railway 
Systems  as  independent  despotisms ; 

12.  Suggested  a  plan  to  General  B.  F.  Butler  to  capture  New 
Orleans,  and  it  was  captured ; 

13.  Conceived  and  personally  commanded  at  the  capture  of 
Norfolk  and  the  blockade  of  the  James  River ; 

14.  Conceived,  created,  and  sent  forward  the  independent 
navy  of  thirty-eight  rams  and  mortar  boats  which  cleared  the  up- 
per Mississippi  of  insurgent  craft  and  captured  and  held  Memphis; 

15.  Conceived  the  Confiscation  Act ; 

16.  Armed  and  employed  the  slaves  of  rebellious  masters  to 
save  the  Union  despite  the  opposition  of  Lincoln,  the  cabinet,  and 
the  officers  of  the  regular  army ; 

17.  Crowded  Lincoln  until  he  was  compelled  to  sign  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation ; 


MOUNTAIN  PEAKS  21 

18.  Rescued  the  starving  Army  of  the  Cumberland  at  Chat- 
tanooga and  saved  the  Middle  West ; 

19.  Resolutely  provided  for  the  safety  of  Washington  and  thus 
insured  a  stable  Government  to  prosecute  the  war  for  the  Union ; 

20.  Adhered  to  and  protected  Grant  when  the  clamor  was 
furious  against  him  and  promoted  him  continually  until  he  became 
president; 

21.  Conceived  the  Trumbull  amendment  of  the  constitution, 
which  wiped  out  slavery  forever ; 

22.  Adroitly  prevented  Lincoln  from  being  snared  by  the  in- 
surgent commissioners  at  the  Hampton  Roads  "peace  conference" ; 

23.  Prevented  Lincoln  and  Grant  from  giving  away  the  fruits 
of  victory  in  the  terms  of  surrender  to  Lee ; 

24.  Prevented  the  rehabilitation  of  secession  by  causing  the 
recall  of  Lincoln's  permit  to  reassemble  the  insurgent  legislature  of 
Virginia  after  the  surrender  of  Lee ; 

25.  Prevented  the  recrudescence  of  secession  on  a  civil  basis 
by  annulling  the  Sherman- Johnston-Davis  terms  of  surrender ; 

26.  Acted  as  President,  Secretary  of  War,  Secretary  of  State, 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  armies.  Chief  of  Police,  Dictator,  and 
national  muezzin  at  the  murder  of  Lincoln,  and  slept  not  until  the 
assassins  were  captured ; 

27.  So  put  Grant,  Meade,  and  other  commanders  on  record 
under  oath  and  in  writing  and  so  preserved  the  official  history  of 
the  Rebellion  that  calumny  and  falsehood  were  rendered  innocuous 
to  him  forever ; 

28.  Conceived  and  successfully  began  reconstruction  along 
the  lines  finally  adopted  by  Congress  and  confirmed  by  the  courts ; 

29.  Prevented  President  Johnson  from  seizing  the  army  and 
bringing  on  another  revolution  and  then,  having  saved  the  country 
from  disaster  thrice  and  thrice  again,  laid  down  in  poverty,  worn 
out,  and  died. 


CHAPTER  II. 

A  PUNY  BABE— HEROIC  SURROUNDINGS. 

At  Steubenville,  Ohio,  on  Monday,  December  19,  1814 — a  day 
turbulent,  chilly,  and  full  of  driving  snow — the  first  child  was 
born  to  Dr.  David  and  Lucy  Norman  Stanton,  and,  in  honor  of  Mrs. 
Stanton's  god-father  (the  Reverend  David  McMasters),  was  named 
Edwin  McMasters  Stanton.  It  was  a  small  and  puny  babe,  too 
weak  to  suckle,  and,  the  mother's  life  being  in  danger,  was  trans- 
ferred through  the  drifting  snows  to  her  own  home  by  Mrs.  Warner 
Brown. 

For  three  years  the  babe  continued  to  be  scrawny  and  blood- 
less. His  stunted  stature  and  sickly  organization,  contrasting 
strangely  with  the  robust  physiques  of  his  ancestors,  seemed,  how- 
ever, to  add  to  the  brightness  of  his  unusually  mature  mind. 

At  four  he  was  more  rugged ;  at  seven  he  began  attending  a 
private  school ;  at  eight  he  was  transferred  to  a  seminary  conducted 
by  Henry  Orr,  in  the  rear  of  his  father's  residence ;  at  ten,  having 
made  good  progress,  he  was  admitted  to  the  Reverend  George  Bu- 
chanan's Latin  school,  where  he  learned  Latin,  Greek,  history,  and 
some  of  the  higher  branches.  The  father  took  great  interest  in  his 
son's  education,  assisting  him  to  collect  a  museum  of  insects,  frogs, 
small  animals,  birds,  etc. 

"While  gathering  his  natural-history  museum,  Eddie  Stanton 
learned  to  train  snakes,"  says  Lewis  Anderson  of  Steubenville.  "In 
fact,  he  became  a  snake-charmer.  Once,  when  he  came  into  our 
house  with  a  couple  of  long  snakes  wound  around  his  arms  and 
neck,  mother  screamed  and  the  children  fled.  Father  rushed  in 
and  hustled  Ed  and  his  horrible  snakes  into  the  street.  Ed's  father 
wished  him  to  become  a  physician,  and  articulated  a  human  skele- 
ton and  hung  it  in  the  barn  back  of  the  house  for  him  to  study. 
Ed  gave  lectures  on  this  skeleton  which  I  attended.  He  put  a 
lighted  candle  inside  of  the  skull  and  gave  some  of  us  the  horrors. 
He  also  gave  lectures  on  God,  the  Bible,  Moses,  and  the  Flood  in 


A  PUNY  BABE— HEROIC  SURROUNDINGS  23 

the  same  stable.    He  was  of  a  religious  turn  of  mind,  a  good  talker, 
and  very  earnest  and  emphatic." 

"He  was  always  a  MAN,"  says  the  Reverend  Joseph  Buchanan, 
"always  aimed  at  something  high  and  never  spent  an  idle  moment. 
He  was  not  only  a  good  student,  but  a  good  talker,  and  from  boxes 
and  barrels  in  his  father's  stable  displayed  his  eloquence  to  his 
playmates." 

At  the  age  of  ten  he  was  a  member  of  Mrs.  Hetty  Beatty's 
Bible  class,  and  attended  Methodist  church  services  regularly.  On 
January  27,  1827,  when  barely  twelve,  he  joined  the  church  on  pro- 
bation. On  December  24,  1827,  having  stood  the  probationary  tests, 
he  confessed  Christ  and  became  a  "full  member"  of  the  church.* 
"He  was  frank  and  manly,  and  impressed  all  as  being  sincere," 
says  Mrs.  E.  H.  McCarty  of  Steubenville.  "He  did  not  hang  his 
head  and  hesitate,  but  rose  promptly  to  give  his  confession." 

Edwin  was  thirteen  and  an  advanced  pupil,  when,  on  December 
30,  1827,  his  father  startled  the  village  by  dropping  dead  of  apoplexy 
on  the  threshold  of  his  residence.  The  blow  fell  heavily  upon  Lucy 
Stanton,  There  was  considerable  money  due  from  her  husband's  pa- 
tients, which  at  first  she  believed  to  be  collectable ;  but,  being  un- 
able to  realize  much  on  these  accounts,  she  added  groceries,  books, 
and  stationery  to  the  stock  of  medicines  left  to  her,  and  opened  a 
general  store*  in  the  front  room  of  her  residence. 

Edwin  continued  his  studies,  assisted  his  mother  in  the  shop, 
cared  for  the  family  cow,  and  made  himself  generally  useful.  Early 
in  the  summer  of  1828,  James  Turnbull  gave  him  a  place  in  his 
large,  prosperous  and  well-conducted  book-store  and  publishing 
house,  at  fifty  dollars  for  the  first,  seventy-five  dollars  for  the 
second  and  one  hundred  dollars  for  the  third  year,  with  the  privi- 
lege of  continuing  to  study  the  languages  under  the  Reverend  Mr. 
Buchanan. 

"Mr.  Turnbull  never  took  but  one  exception  to  him  as  an  em- 


*"My  sister  Lucy  opened  a  shop  more  in  pride  than  necessity,"  says 
Mrs.  J.  C.  Duerson  of  Washington.  "We  at  home  in  Culpepper,  Virginia, 
were  not  aware  at  the  time  that  she  was  keeping  store.  Father  was 
wealthy  and  sent  money  to  her  after  her  husband's  death,  and  would  have 
sent  more  very  gladly  if  she  had  disclosed  that  she  needed  it.  He  not  only 
forwarded  money,  but  wished  to  send  slaves  to  do  her  work  and  care  for 
the  children;  but,  of  course,  that  seemed  to  be  forbidden  by  the  law  of  Ohio. 
After  father  died,  in  1838,  Sister  Lucy  neither  received  nor  needed  aid,  for 
Edwin  had  begun  to  earn  substantially  and  to  look  after  his  mother." 


24  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

ploye,"  said  Captain  J.  F.  Oliver,  Mr.  TurnbuU's  son-in-law.  "When 
customers  came  into  the  store  he  was  often  so  absorbed  in  his  book 
that  he  did  not  attend  to  them  very  promptly.  He  consumed  every 
book  in  the  store." 

His  duties  were  numerous.  Besides  handling  and  selling  books 
and  stationery,  he  bought  rags  and  stock  for  the  local  paper  mill, 
assisted  in  the  publishing  and  subscription  branches,  and  dealt  par- 
ticularly with  surrounding  school  officers  in  educational  supplies. 
This  experience  was  valuable,  for  Mr.  Turnbull  was  an  exacting  and 
successful  business  man. 

During  his  apprenticeship  he  organized  a  circulating  library  for 
the  use  of  which  he  charged  a  fee  of  ten  cents  per  term  per  person. 
"It  was  quite  a  pretentious  collection,  and  was  patronized  as  much 
by  adults  as  young  people,"  says  James  Gallagher  of  Steubenville. 

"I  remember  Edwin's  circulating  library  well,"  says  John 
Harper,  president  of  the  Bank  of  Pittsburg,  who  resided  in  Steu- 
benville until  1830,  "for  I  secured  such  books  therefrom  as  my 
young  friend  recommended.  He  was  fond  of  reading  poetry  and 
the  Bible,  and  was  familiar  with  Shakespeare." 

He  was  particularly  attracted  by  Montgomery's  hymns  and 
poetry  and  the  story  of  his  imprisonment,  frequently  reading  "Peli- 
can Island"  and  "The  World  Before  the  Flood"  aloud  to  his  friends 
with  much  elocutionary  power. 

During  his  apprenticeship  Stanton  contributed  to  the  support 
of  his  mother,  brother,  and  sisters ;  he  was  a  member  and  for  one 
term  president  of  "The  Polemics,"  a  local  debating  society;  a  faith- 
ful communicant  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  a  regular  attend- 
ant at  Sunday  school. 

His  first  sweetheart,  the  now  venerable  Mrs.  Clemson  of  Xenia, 
Ohio,  who,  as  Miss  Margaret  Hoagland,  resided  in  Steubenville 
until  1836,  says: 

I  shall  never  forget  Edwin  M.  Stanton.  He  was  the  handsomest  and 
smartest  boy  in  Steubenville,  having  such  bright  black  eyes.  We  were 
together  a  great  deal,  so  much  so  that — who  will  not  pardon  a  woman  of 
80  for  admitting  it? — it  was  predicted  by  many  that  some  time  we  would 
be  married.  No  party  or  gathering  of  young  people  was  complete  without 
him.  He  was  always  pleasant,  agreeable,  and  full  of  life  and  fun,  and  always 
ready  to  escort  the  girls.  However,  he  loved  books  better  than  either  par- 
ties or  girls.  His  habits  were  excellent — studious,  ambitious,  industrious,  and 
sober.  He  was  upright  and  truthful,  too,  and  very  attentive  to  his  mother 
and  sisters.  He  attended  church  regularly.  I  never  knew  a  smarter  boy 
or  one  with  a  nobler  heart  and  better  principles. 


Stanton's  Home, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


A  PUNY  BABE— HEROIC  SURROUNDINGS  25 

The  influences  that  had  surrounded  Stanton  up  to  this  time 
were  potential  in  character-molding.  His  mother,  a  well-educated 
school-teacher,  a  Virginian,  was  a  devout  Methodist;  his  father,  a 
native  of  Beaufort,  North  Carolina,  had  been  a  polemical  Quaker; 
his  tutor  was  a  strong-minded  and  vigorous  Presbyterian  of  great 
learning,  and  he  himself  a  spirited  actor  in  church  and  Sunday 
school.  At  quarterly  meetings  his  father's  house  was  crowded 
with  Methodist  preachers  and  elders,  and  at  all  times  it  was  the 
resting  place  of  religious  itinerants  of  every  denomination — es- 
pecially Hicksite  Quakers. 

But,  while  the  atmosphere  of  religious  kindness  and  generous 
hospitality  pervaded  the  home,  inveighing  against  slavery  was  the 
dominant  theme.  Dr.  Stanton  was  not  only  an  abolitionist  but 
urged  that  native  medical  herbs  be  planted  and  native  medical  sup- 
plies be  used  in  place  of  those  from  slave  sections,  so  that  "love 
of  liberty  and  our  American  practise  may  be  coincident." 

In  January,  1821,  Benjamin  Lundy,  who  received  his  first  les- 
sons in  abolitionism  from  Dr.  Stanton  while  in  school  at  Wheeling, 
established  his  Genius  of  Universal  Emancipation  at  Mt.  Pleasant, 
Ohio.  Dr.  Stanton  became  his  agent,  correspondent,  and  sales- 
man, pushing  the  interests  of  this  first  anti-slavery  publication  with 
vigor.  Lundy  was  a  saddler  working  at  Wheeling  and  Mt.  Pleas- 
ant. It  was  his  habit  to  take  the  MS.  for  an  issue  of  his  paper  to 
Steubenville,  and,  putting  up  with  Dr.  Stanton  while  the  type  was 
being  set,  earn  enough  money  in  the  local  saddlery  to  defray  the 
expense  of  the  edition.  After  the  Genius  was  thought  to  be  on  its 
feet,  Lundy  frequently  sent  the  MS.  for  its  issues  to  Dr.  Stanton, 
who  procured  the  printing  and  read  the  proof.  Then,  if  the  com- 
pleted edition  could  not  be  sent  by  a  friend,  or  there  was  no  cash 
available  with  which  to  defray  carriage  by  stage,  he  tied  the  package 
on  his  back  and  "toted"  it  about  twenty  miles  through  gullies  and 
over  hills  to  Mt.  Pleasant. .  James  Gallagher,  also  a  saddler,  who 
was  intimate  with  both,  says:  "Dr.  Stanton  furnished  more  cash 
and  credit  than  Lundy  for  the  Genius.  Outside  of  his  love  for  his 
profession,  the  Doctor's  strongest  trait  was  hatred  of  slavery." 

William  Thaw  of  Pittsburg,  president  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Company,  says :  "Edwin  M.  Stanton  told  me  when  he  was  a  boy 
his  father  had — like  the  father  of  Hannibal  against  Rome — made 
him  swear  eternal  hostility  to  slavery,  and  the  vow  would  be  bind- 
ing to  his  last  day." 


26  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

This  vow  was  taken  while  his  father  and  mother,  both  natives 
of  slave  States,  were  actively  aiding  and  protecting  the  slaves  that 
constantly  escaped  from  Virginia,  whose  bold  hills  were  in  full 
view  from  their  house  immediately  across  the  Ohio  River. 

What  atmosphere  could  breathe  more  purely  the  spirit  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty  and  of  fearless  adherence  to  principle  than 
that  in  which  Edwin  M.  Stanton  passed  his  childhood? 

Dr.  David  Stanton  taught  abolitionism  to  Benjamin  Lundy 
and  helped  him  to  establish,  if  he  did  not  suggest,  the  first  emanci- 
pation paper  in  the  United  States;  and  his  son  Edwin  M.  and  not 
Abraham  Lincoln,  as  we  shall  see  further  along  in  this  volume,  was 
the  real  author  of  the  great  act  of  final  emancipation. 


CHAPTER  III. 
IN  KENYON  COLLEGE. 

During  his  apprenticeship  to  Mr.  Turnbull,  Stanton  pursued 
his  studies  tenaciously ;  but,  not  liking  the  calling  of  physician,  for 
which  his  father  had  designed  him,  he  demanded  a  college  educa- 
tion before  finally  deciding  on  a  profession.  Therefore,  Guardian 
Collier  being  willing  to  advance  the  necessary  funds  and  Mr.  Turn- 
bull  to  cancel  the  apprenticeship,  he  left  by  stage,  in  April,  1831,  for 
Kenyon  College  at  Gambier,  Ohio,  then  under  the  personal  direc- 
tion of  Bishop  Philander  Chase  and  known  as  "The  Star  in  the 
West."  At  Wooster  he  was  detained  two  days  by  an  attack  of 
asthma,*  from  which,  after  his  tenth  year,  he  was  never  free. 

Choosing  an  "irregular  course"  which  permitted  him  to  select 
his  own  studies,  he  fell  to  work  with  vigor  and  enthusiasm.  The 
college  was  located  in  the  unbroken  forest.  In  winter  the  rising 
bell  rang  at  5  o'clock  and  the  first  recitation  was  held  twenty  min- 
utes later.  In  summer  the  first  bell  rang  before  sunrise,  and  the 
second  at  sunrise,  for  prayers.  At  9  o'clock  in  the  evening  all 
lights  had  to  be  out  and  all  students  in  bed.  The  boys  were  re- 
quired "to  sweep  their  own  rooms,  make  their  own  beds  and  fires, 
bring  in  their  own  water,  and  take  an  occasional  turn  at  grubbing  in 
the  fields,  or  working  on  the  roads," 

Stanton  at  once  joined  the  Philomathesian  Literary  Society, 
early  becoming  prominent  in  its  exercises  and  deliberations,  and 
donating  its  first  record  book,  on  the  cover  of  which  the  inscription 
is  yet  plain :  "Presented  by  E.  M.  Stanton."  About  this  time  the 
prevailing  State-rights  and  nullification  controversy  invaded  the 
Philomathesian  Society.  Those  who  adhered  to  John  C.  Calhoun's 
theory  that  a  State  is  greater  than  the  United  States,  which  Stanton 


*Mrs.  J.  C.  Duerson  of  Washington,  D.  C,  his  mother's  sister,  says: 
"Edwin  inherited  a  predisposition  or  tendency  to  asthma.  His  grandfather, 
Thomas  Norman,  was  afflicted  with  asthmatic  convulsions  for  more  than 
sixty  years  and  the  symptoms  of  the  two  cases  were  similar." 


28  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

combated  with  vehemence,  resigned  and  founded  a  new  association. 
Stanton  was  elected  secretary  of  the  reorganized  Philomathesians 
and  served  on  several  committees  and  appeared  on  one  side  or  the 
other  of  nearly  every  debate  until  he  left  Gambier. 

One  of  the  noted  incidents  in  Kenyon  history  is  his  escapade 
with  Bishop  Chase's  fine  horse  "Cincinnatus,"  He  was  consider- 
ably smitten  with  a  lively  and  beautiful  Miss  Douglass,  who  lived 
in  a  log  cabin  in  the  forest  some  miles  distant  from  the  college. 
Desiring,  one  boisterous  night,  to  visit  her  and  her  sisters,  Stanton 
and  a  companion  together  rode  Cincinnatus  out  to  the  Douglass 
home  and  back  through  deep,  fatiguing  roads.  When,  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  the  Bishop  found  his  good  horse  exhausted  and 
spattered  with  mud,  his  wrath  knew  no  bounds.  The  offenders 
were  discovered,  and  the  matter  was  brought  before  the  faculty. 
The  Bishop  would  listen  to  nothing  in  extenuation,  so  Dr.  Heman 
Dyer,  one  of  the  faculty,  advised  Stanton  to  confess  and  ask  for- 
giveness. 

"I'll  do  it,''  was  the  reply,  "Now,"  says  Dr.  Dyer,  "Stanton 
was  a  fellow  of  good  heart,  and  full  of  feeling.  He  went  to  the 
Bishop,  made  a  clean  breast  of  it,  acknowledged  his  error,  and 
asked  forgiveness.  The  Bishop's  wrath  was  soon  gone.  His  big 
heart  was  touched.  He  spoke  to  Stanton  tenderly  of  his  widowed 
mother  and  of  the  life  that  was  before  him,  and  before  long  both 
were  in  tears  and  parted  good  friends." 

"One  day  Stanton  was  minded  to  have  some  potatoes  on  his 
own  hook,"  says  the  Reverend  S.  A.  Bronson  of  Mansfield,  Ohio.  "A 
professor  saw  him  and  called  out:  'Stanton,  those  potatoes  belong 
to  the  College.'  'So  do  I,'  answered  Stanton,  digging  away,  which, 
I  believe,  settled  the  matter." 

In  August,  1832,  his  guardian,  D.  L.  Collier,  wrote  to  Stanton 
that  it  "seemed  necessary  to  suspend  the  college  course  for  perhaps 
a  year  or  two  in  order  to  earn  something  to  improve  the  financial 
situation  at  home."  Therefore,  on  September  7,  1832,  he  left  Ken- 
yon, as  he  supposed,  for  "a  year  or  two,"  but,  as  fate  willed,  forever. 

Some  of  the  controlling  influences  and  most  enduring  friend- 
ships of  his  life,  however,  came  from  Kenyon.  There  the  doctrines 
of  the  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  he  died,  took  root ;  there  he  sent 
his  son  Edwin  L.  who,  in  1863,  graduated  with  the  highest  honors 
in  the  history  of  the  institution ;  thither  he  often  returned  with  af- 
fectionate interest,  and  from  its  graduates  and  tutors  he  chose  some 


g  § 

L/  O 


IN  KENYON  COLLEGE  29 

of  the  most  confidential  and  trusted  advisers  of  his  later  career. 

When  he  left,  he  had  finished  history,  mathematics,  chemistry, 
political  economy,  geology,  Latin,  and  the  third  year  of  Greek ;  and 
would  have  graduated  on  the  highest  level  at  the  end  of  another 
session,  if  he  could  have  remained. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

WORK— LAW— SLAVERY. 

Mrs.  Stanton  had  been  obliged  to  close  her  store  for  want  of 
capital,  and  was  very  poor.  Guardian  Collier  could  make  no  further 
advances  and,  James  Turnbull  offering  to  reengage  him,  Stanton  left 
by  stage  within  a  week  of  his  return  from  college  to  take  charge  of  a 
large  book  and  stationery  branch  at  Columbus,  the  State  capital,  at 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  year  and  sleeping  quarters  in  the 
store.  Mr.  Turnbull  was  precise  and  severe,  and  the  trust  he  placed 
in  Stanton  is  proof  of  the  boy's  excellent  character  and  capacity. 

His  time  during  the  following  year  was  fully  occupied  with 
bookkeeping,  collections,  and  remittances.  He  attended  Trinity 
Episcopal  Church,  listened  to  the  debates  of  the  State  legislature 
when  possible,  and  read  such  law  books  as  the  shelves  of  his  store 
afforded. 

In  1833  the  cholera  swept  over  Ohio.  On  a  certain  day  at  2 
o'clock  Miss  Anna  Howard,  daughter  of  a  "steam  doctor"  with 
whom  he  had  a  home,  served  Stanton  with  dinner.  On  returning  for 
tea  he  learned  that  she  was  dead  and  buried.  Cholera,  like  light- 
ning, had  struck  her  down.  He  could  not  believe  she  was  dead.  Re- 
questing two  young  friends  to  assist  him,  he  proceeded  to  her 
grave,  and,  with  his  life  in  his  hands,  exhumed  and  opened  the 
casket  in  order  to  be  sure  that  she  had  not  suffered  the  awful 
agony  of  burial  alive.  A.  H.  Smythe  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  says  the 
heroic  courage  thus  displayed  in  the  midst  of  the  universal  panic 
was  recognized  and  commented  upon  at  the  time ;  also  that  Stanton 
had  a  high  standing  in  Columbus,  although  not  yet  twenty  years 
of  age. 

At  the  end  of  his  year  Stanton  wrote  to  his  guardian  that  he 
wished  to  study  law  and  would  like  to  remain  in  Columbus.  He  had 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Mary  A.  Lamson,  an  orphan  residing  with 
her  brother-in-law,  the  Reverend  William  Preston ;  indeed,  he  had 
fallen  deeply  in  love  with  her  and  had  already  discussed  betrothal. 


WORK— LAW— SLAVERY  31 

Hence  his  desire  to  remain  in  Columbus.  Guardian  Collier  advised 
a  return  to  Steubenville  to  study  law.  "You  may  have  a  home  in 
my  house,  and  pursue  your  studies  in  my  office,"  said  he.  Returning 
in  October,  1833,  Stanton  devoted  himself  with  energy  to  his  studies, 
teaching  a  Sunday  School  class  in  the  Protestant  Methodist  church, 
attending  caucuses  and  political  meetings,  arranging  and  participat- 
ing in  moot-courts,  and  leading  in  a  library  organization  called  the 
Lyceum,  but  giving  no  time  to  hunting,  fishing,  sport,  or  recreation. 

In  1834,  Theodore  D.  Weld,  the  intrepid  Massachusetts  re- 
former, lectured  in  Steubenville  on  slavery.  "At  my  last  lecture," 
says  Mr.  Weld,  "young  Stanton  sat  in  a  front  seat  facing  the  pulpit. 
I  said  at  the  end :  'Friends,  will  all  of  you  who  believe  it  the  duty  of 
the  people  of  the  slave  States  to  abolish  slavery  at  once,  please  rise 
to  your  feet?'  Stanton  sprang  to  his  feet  and  turned  to  the  audience 
with-  uplifted  hands,  which  rose  in  a  body  in  response  to  his  lead." 

While  pursuing  his  studies,  Stanton  attended  to  the  collections, 
accounts,  and  small  business  of  Mr,  Collier's  office,  and  frequently 
appeared  in  court  to  assist  in  citations,  take  down  testimony,  and 
care  for  books  and  papers.  Having  made  good  progress  (although 
seriously  afflicted  at  intervals  with  asthma),  he  went  to  St.  Clairs- 
ville  in  August,  1835,  to  be  examined  for  admission  to  the  Ohio  bar, 
and  passed  with  honor. 

Although  not  yet  twenty-one  he  jumped  into  active  practise 
under  the  patronage  of  his  preceptor  and  guardian,  D.  L.  Collier. 
His  first  appearance  in  court  is  thus  described  by  John  McCracken 
of  Steubenville; 

Sometime  in  the  early  autumn  of  1835,  I  saw  Stanton  going  into  court 
with  a  bundle  of  books  and  papers  and  followed  him.  A  suit  for  slander 
was  on,  and  young  Stanton  was  handling  one  side  of  it,  with  D.  L.  Collier 
sitting  in  the  rear,  watching  him.  He  was  wooling  into  the  trial  like  every- 
thing, when  one  of  the  attorneys  on  the  other  side  asked  the  Court  to  order 
him  out  of  the  case  for  being  under  age  and  not  entitled  or  fit  to  practise. 
Instantly  Mr.  Collier  arose  and  exclaimed:  "Your  Honor,  this  young  man  is 
as  well  qualified  to  practise  law  as  myself  or  any  other  attorney  of  this 
bar;  he  has  passed  the  examination;  he  is  the  son  of  a  poor  widow  and 
should  be  allowed  to  go  on."  Even  then  Stanton  had  cheek.  He  remained 
standing  while  Collier  was  making  this  speech,  and  pitched  right  in  again 
the  instant  his  guardian  sat  down,  without  waiting  for  a  ruling  by  the  Court. 
The  judge  gazed  at  him  quizzically,  but  said  nothing. 


CHAPTER  V. 
SETTLES  IN  CADIZ— MARRIES. 

On  January  1,  1836,  twelve  days  after  he  became  twenty-one, 
Stanton  removed  to  Cadiz,  a  village  of  one  thousand  inhabitants,  the 
seat  of  Harrison  County,  and  entered  into  partnership  with  Chaun- 
cey  Dewey,  an  attorney  with  an  established  reputation,  extended 
practise,  and  large  wealth. 

For  some  years  Dewey  and  Stanton  were  engaged  on  one  side 
or  the  other  of  nearly  every  suit  brought  in  the  county,  and  had  an 
extensive  practise  in  the  surrounding  counties  of  Columbiana,  Bel- 
mont, Tuscarawas,  Carroll,  and  Jefferson,  In  1836,  out  of  funds 
earned  in  the  Shotwell  suits  brought  by  him  against  the  Farmers' 
and  Mechanics'  Bank  of  Steubenville,  Stanton  contributed  to  the  ex- 
pense of  a  course  in  medicine  and  surgery  for  his  brother  Darwin 
at  Harvard  University. 

During  the  autumn  he  purchased  a  house  in  Cadiz  and  in  De- 
cember proceeded  to  Columbus — twenty  miles  of  the  distance  on 
foot — to  claim  his  bride  (Mary  A.,  orphan  daughter  of  William  K. 
Lamson)  who  for  more  than  three  years  had  been  patiently  and  af- 
fectionately waiting  for  him.  The  marriage  ceremony  occurred  in 
the  house  of  the  officiating  clergyman,  the  Reverend  William  Pres- 
ton, husband  of  the  bride's  sister,  on  Friday,  December  31,  1836. 
The  "bridal  tour"  consisted  of  a  ride  on  a  stage  sleigh  from  Colum- 
bus to  Cadiz,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles,  over 
rough  roads  and  through  a  sparsely  settled  country — "the  brightest, 
sweetest  journey  of  all  my  life,"  said  Stanton  years  afterward.  A 
cozy  little  home,  handsomely  situated  on  a  knoll  in  the  outskirts  of 
the  village  and  surrounded  by  trees,  was  partially  furnished  for  the 
bride  on  her  arrival  in  Cadiz. 

The  marriage  was  indeed  happy.  Stanton  did  not  love,  he  wor^ 
shipped.  He  adored  as  much  with  his  head  as  his  heart.  Rugged  and 
intense,  sentiment  and  affection  with  him  were  fused  into  a  glow- 
ing and  absorbing  passion  which  could  not  be  divided  or  restrained. 


SETTLES  IN  CADIZ— MARRIES  33 

Existence  itself  was  wrapped  up  in  the  object  of  his  adoration.  He 
could  not  have  more  than  one  idol,  and  for  that  idol  his  soul  was 
immeasurable,  and  in  his  heart  "beyond  the  deepest  deep  was  still 
another  deep." 

Both  were  poor,  but  Miss  Lamson  had  been  carefully  edu- 
cated and  her  manners  were  gentle  and  refined.  Her  heart  was 
full  and  sympathetic  and  in  it  Stanton's  aggressive  nature  found  a 
delightful  refuge,  his  impetuous  ardor  a  sweet  and  tender  response. 

"I  recall  Mary  A.  Lamson  as  a  retiring,  refined,  and  delicate 
young  woman,  of  lovable  and  Christian  character,"  said  Mrs.  Anne 
E.  Dennison,  wife  of  the  famous  war  governor  of  Ohio.  "Mr.  Stan- 
ton loved  her  passionately  and  cherished  her  memory  to  the  end  of 
his  life.  We  bought  the  house  that  Reverend  Mr.  Preston  built  in 
Columbus,  and  lived  in  it;  and  when  my  daughter  was  married  to 
General  J.  W.  Forsythe,  in  1867,  Mr.  Stanton  led  me  under  the  chan- 
deliers and  said  with  deep  feeling:  'Here  is  where  Mary  and  I  stood 
to  be  married.'  In  Washington  he  always  treated  me  with  the  ut- 
most kindness  and  consideration,  connecting  me  fondly  with  the 
home  of  his  Mary." 

Immediately  after  establishing  himself  in  Cadiz,  Stanton  be- 
came very  active  in  politics.  During  the  campaign  of  1837  he  was 
elected  prosecuting  attorney  on  the  Democratic  ticket.  He  made 
a  personal  canvass  of  the  towns,  frequently  accompanied  by  his 
wife  and  by  a  novel  system  of  organization  overturned  the  Whig 
majority,  a  fact  that,  before  the  election,  was  not  supposed  to  be 
possible.  The  salary  of  the  office  was  only  two  hundred  dollars  per 
year,  but  he  must  have  been  making  money  in  his  profession,  for  in 
addition  to  his  home  in  the  village,  he  purchased  a  tract  of  eighty 
acres  in  Washington  township,  and  acquired  also  several  town  lots. 

Although  his  business  was  large  in  Cadiz,  the  matters  involved 
were  small  compared  to  those  growing  out  of  the  extensive  manu- 
facturing, banking,  and  commercial  interests  developing  along  the 
Ohio  River,  and  at  the  end  of  three  years  he  decided  to  return  to 
Steubenville.  Before  following  him  there,  however,  some  personal 
reminiscences  by  survivors  who  knew  him  in  Cadiz  will  be  inter- 
esting.   Thomas  McCrary  says : 

I  lived  with  Ed  Stanton  from  August,  1837,  till  March,  1838.  He  was 
one  of  the  kindest  and  most  aflfectionate  of  men.  I  had  many  talks  with 
him  after  his  wife  died,  and  he  could  never  speak  of  her  without  weeping. 

Stanton's  brother  Darwin  came  occasionally  to  Cadiz  and   I  went  out 


34  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

hunting  with  him.  Ed  never  hunted  an  hour  in  his  life.  He  worked  all 
the  time,  worked  terribly.  He  invariably  carried,  in  a  beautiful  sheath  on 
the  inside  of  his  vest,  a  fine  dagger,  seven  inches  in  length.  As  he  gave  no 
time,  not  a  moment,  to  personal  controversies,  and  was  never  abroad  ex- 
cept on  business,  I  never  decided  why  he  carried  such  a  dreadful  weapon. 
His  habits  were  temperate. 

Don't  remember  that  he  attended  church,  though  he  was  religiously  in- 
clined; had  no  amusements.  Never  heard  him  sing  a  note  or  knew  him  to 
give  a  moment  to  gaiety.  He  was  very  active  in  politics,  and  strong 
anti-slavery,  although  in  the  Democratic  party.  His  speeches  against 
slavery  were  masterpieces.  His  style  of  speech-making  and  addressing 
a  jury  was  forcible  and  aggressive  and  sometimes  very  eloquent.  He  dealt 
in  facts.  By  some  he  was  called  grufif  and  severe  to  witnesses,  especially 
if  they  were  inclined  to  be  crooked  or  sullen.  I  recollect  that  in  the  case 
of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Thomas,  on  trial  for  murder,  Stanton  showed  him- 
self better  posted  in  anatomy  than  the  doctors.  He  had  many  a  spat  with 
the  Court,  and  time  and  again  I  have  heard  Judge  Kennon  command  him 
to  sit  down.  He  always  obeyed,  but  was  up  the  next  minute  and  at  it 
again,  and  generally  gained  his  point,  too. 

He  smoked  occasionally,  but  not  often.  He  was  careful  of  his  money, 
but  did  not  charge  high  fees.  In  fact,  he  did  much  work  for  which  he 
received  no  pay  at  all.  He  was  always  on  the  side  of  the  helpless  and 
did  his  greatest  fighting  in  their  behalf.  I  recollect  an  imbecile,  a  girl,  to 
whom  was  willed  for  her  support  a  piece  of  timbered  land.  Stanton, 
in  1838,  negotiated  a  ninety-nine  year  lease  of  the  land.  Had  any  other 
course  been  adopted,  the  property  would  have  been  dissipated  and  the 
poor  girl  left  helpless. 

Judge  A.  C.  Turner  of  Columbus,  Nebraska,  an  attorney  at 
Cadiz  in  Stanton's  time,  writes: 

When  Mr.  Stanton  was  employed  to  defend  a  man  who  had  adminis- 
tered to  a  person  poison  that  finally  caused  death,  he  swallowed  some  of 
the  drug  in  order  to  test  the  eflfect  on  himself.  The  consequences  were 
severe,  but  the  whites  of  eggs  and  other  antidotes  brought  him  out  whole, 
and  he  saved  the  man's  neck.  To  him  there  was  nothing  impossible  in 
courage  or  acts  to  accomplish  his  purpose. 

H.  S.  McFadden  of  the  Harrison  National  Bank  at  Cadiz,  hav- 
ing had  the  poison  incident  referred  to  him,  replied : 

The  poison  was  taken  by  Stanton  in  a  room  at  Lacey's  Hotel  on  the 
night  before  the  trial,  in  the  presence  of  Sheriff  Cady,*  a  reliable  man.    The 


*J.  Cady,  writing  from  Beatrice,  Nebraska,  says:  "My  father,  William 
Cady,  the  sheriff  referred  to,  is  dead,  but  my  mother,  now  over  80,  recol- 
lects the  poison  incident  and  says  Stanton  was  capable  of  just  such  a 
blood-curdling  episode  if  he  considered  it  necessary  to  win  for  his  client." 


Daniel  L.  Collier. 
(Stanton's  Guardian  I. 


Mrs.  Margaret 

\V.  Clemson 

Stanton's  first 

sweetheart 


John  Harper, 

Pres.  Bank  of 

Pittsburg. 


H.  S.  McFadden. 


Thomas  McCrary. 


SETTLES  IN  CADIZ— MARRIES  35 

case  was  tried  in  this  town.  Stanton  had  studied  anatomy  thoroughly,  and, 
having  tried  poison  on  himself,  appeared  to  know  more  than  all  the  doc- 
tors. He  made  them  out  to  be  complete  ignoramuses  in  the  eyes  of  the 
jury,  contradicting  each  other,  especially  as  to  the  effects  of  poison  on 
the  human  system.  The  jury,  in  consequence  of  Stanton's  able  defense, 
brought  in  a  verdict  of  murder  in  the  second  degree,  although  the  indict- 
ment was  for  murder  in  the  first  degree.    Judge  Kennon  let  it  stand. 

General  Thomas  M.  Vincent,  U.  S.  A.,  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
who  was  born  at  Cadiz  and  knew  Stanton  all  his  life,  says : 

In  Mr.  Stanton's  earliest  practise  he  was  a  marked  and  attractive  man 
and  an  antagonist  of  great  power.  I  have  often  seen  him  emerge  from  the 
court-room  with  his  collar  broken  down  and  linen  wet  with  perspiration  from 
the  effort  he  had  put  forth  for  his  client.  He  invariably  exhausted  every 
power  he  possessed  to  win.  He  was  an  honorable  man  of  high  standing 
from  the  first,  and  faithful  to  all  trusts  under  every  circumstance. 

William  G.  Finney  of  Washington,  D.  C,  who  knew  Stanton 
when  he  first  began  practising  law  in  Cadiz,  says : 

The  first  time  I  was  drawn  to  serve  on  a  jury  at  Cadiz,  Stanton  was 
one  of  the  attorneys  in  the  case.  He  wore  spectacles  (being  near-sighted) 
and  a  full  beard  on  the  chin  and  cheeks  then  as  he  did  throughout  his 
after  life.  He  feared  nothing.  If  he  thought  he  was  right,  nothing  could 
swerve  him  from  his  course.  In  those  times  he  drew  the  very  life  out  of 
adverse  witnesses.  In  fact  it  was  impossible,  after  his  character  became 
known,  to  get  weak  or  crooked  witnesses  to  take  the  stand  against  him. 
Once  a  witness  became  angry  at  his  cross  examination.  "I  am  simply  seek- 
ing to  draw  out  the  truth,"  said  he,  "and  I  hope  you  will  not  be  offended 
if  I  succeed."  He  had  no  time  for  trivial  matters.  While  others  were  trig- 
ging out  and  grooming  their  hair  and  persons,  he  was  charging  his 
mind  with  knowledge  and  power. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
RETURNS  TO  STEUBENVILLE— ACTIVE  IN  POLITICS. 

In  October,  1838,  Stanton  formed  a  partnership  with  Benjamin 
Tappan  of  Steubenville,  a  man  of  ability  and  wealth,  who  in  the  fol- 
lowing December  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate.  He  was 
thus  compelled  to  remove  to  Steubenville,  although  continuing  his 
partnership  with  Dewey  at  Cadiz.  He  became  a  Mason ;  put  his 
peculiar  notions  of  political  organization  into  efYect  and  made  "clean 
sweeps"  in  Jeflferson  as  he  had  in  Harrison  County;  represented 
his  district  in  the  Democratic  State  convention  and  was  selected 
as  a  delegate  to  the  Baltimore  presidential  convention  of  May  5, 
1840.  In  the  famous  Log-Cabin  Campaign  of  that  year  he  was 
supreme  in  southeastern  Ohio. 

At  an  enormous  tri-State  mass  meeting  of  Whigs  and  Demo- 
crats at  Steubenville  in  July,  his  methods  so  exasperated  the 
former  that  a  serious  riot  was  precipitated.  The  Democratic  policy 
was  anti-bank."  Stanton  held  for  collection  more  than  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  of  the  "over-issue"  of  the  wrecked  Bank  of  Steubenville, 
whose  officers  were  Whigs.  Before  the  great  Whig  procession 
passed  his  office  he  set  out  in  front  of  it  a  large  tombstone  on  which 
he  had  pasted  the  worthless  bills  of  the  defunct  bank.  This  was  too 
much  for  the  Whigs,  who  angrily  turned  their  procession  toward  the 
Democratic  grand  stand  where  Stanton  was  speaking  and  brought 
on  a  terrific  riot.  Stanton  himself  was  not  injured,  but  others  were 
and  the  Whigs  held  him  responsible  for  the  bloody  emente. 

The  Democrats  were  defeated  in  November,  and  Stanton,  hav- 
ing made  a  fine  reputation,  dropped  political  activity  and  concen- 
trated his  energies  on  his  profession.  He  admitted  several  bright 
young  students  to  his  office,  and  accepted  business  from  every  di- 
rection. The  court  calendars  were  crowded  with  his  cases,  news- 
papers teemed  with  his  legal  notices,  and  he  was  compelled  to  work 
almost  night  and  day,  Sundays  included,  to  take  care  of  his  clients. 

During  1840  the  first  babe,  christened  Lucy  Lamson  Stanton, 
made  its  appearance  in  the  Stanton  home.     Lucy  was  the  apple 


Bishop  and  Mrs.  Philander  Cha.->e. 


RETURNS  TO  STEUBENVILLE— ACTIVE  IN  POLITICS         37 

of  her  father's  eye.  Years  afterward  he  said  the  "happiest  hours 
of  his  Hfe  were  passed  in  the  little  brick  house  on  Third  Street,  hold- 
ing Lucy  on  his  knee  while  Mary  prepared  the  meals." 

During  the  year  1841  he  astonished  the  profession  by  clearing 
John  Gaddis,  who  was  charged  with  uxorcide.  Mrs.  Gaddis  was 
found  mortally  wounded  from  the  blows  of  a  jagged  brick.  Al- 
though horribly  mangled,  she  is  said  to  have  rallied  sufificiently  to  say 
that  the  wounds  were  made  by  her  husband.  Gaddis  employed  Stan- 
ton to  defend  him.  Having  no  money  he  contracted  to  deed  over  his 
home  in  lieu  of  a  cash  fee.  The  trial  came  on  and,  greatly  to  the  sur- 
prise of  the  community,  resulted  in  acquittal.  Having  regained  his 
freedom,  Gaddis  demurred  to  the  terms  made  for  his  defense,  observ- 
ing that  he  might  as  well  have  been  hanged  as  "deprived  of  his  prop- 
erty and  left  to  starve."  "You  deserve  to  starve,  since  I  have  saved 
you  from  hanging,  for  you  are  guilty,"  retorted  Stanton,  and  re- 
tained the  property,  which  he  sold  for  five  hundred  dollars. 

In  December,  1841,  he  was  elected  delegate  to  the  Democratic 
State  convention  to  be  held  at  Columbus  on  January  7,  1842,  and 
attended,  serving  on  the  committee  on  platform  and  to  prepare  an 
"address  to  the  people,"  writing  the  resolution  on  banks.* 

On  March  7,  1842,  the  legislature  of  Ohio  elected  him  to  be 
"Reporter  for  the  supreme  court  in  banc  for  the  term  of  three  years," 
and,  with  the  help  of  his  students,  he  reported  and  edited  volumes 
XL,  Xn.,  and  XHL  ;  compensation  three  hundred  dollars  per  annum. 

In  April,  1842,  although  a  Democrat,  he  went  over  into  Virginia 
to  aid  his  brother  Darwin  to  secure  the  nomination  for  the  House 
cf  Delegates  on  the  Whig  ticket ;  also  took  part  in  the  campaign 
which  resulted  in  his  brother's  election  in  a  district  which  was 
Democratic.  The  next  spring  Darwin  was  the  Democratic  nominee 
for  the  same  office,  and  with  his  brother's  help  was  elected. 

To  Stanton,  blood  was  thicker  than  politics,  if  not  thicker  than 
water. 


*  Resolved,  That  the  true  policy  of  the  United  States  is  to  collect 
no  revenue  whatsoever  beyond  the  sum  actually  necessary  to  conduct,  upon 
principles  of  strict  economy,  the  legitimate  concerns  of  the  general  Gov- 
ernment; that  this  collection  shall  be  made  no  further  than  the  public 
welfare  demands,  and,  when  collected,  the  money  shall  remain  in  the  Treas- 
ury without  being  loaned,  speculated  upon,  used  or  employed  in  banking, 
until  paid  to  the  public  creditors.  We,  therefore,  regard  the  repeal  of  the 
Act  establishing  an  Independent  Treasury,  as  an  error  in  principle  which 
should  be  disapproved  by  all  parties. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
DEATH  OF  HIS  IDOLS. 

In  the  meantime  Stanton  had  received  his  first  taste  of  real  sor- 
row in  the  death  of  his  darHng  Lucy.  "My  friend  Stanton,"  says  W. 
S.  Buchanan,*  "idolized  Lucy.  After  she  had  been  buried  about  a 
year  he  exhumed  the  tiny  remains,  placed  the  ashes  in  a  metal  box 
made  for  the  purpose,' and  had  a  brazier  (Samuel  Wilson  of  Steu- 
benville)  solder  it  up.  This  precious  box  he  kept  in  his  own  room ; 
but  when  his  wife  died  a  year  later,  it  was  buried  by  her  side — both 
in  the  same  grave." 

August  11,  1842,  brought  a  son — a  bright,  healthy,  and  active 
child,  which  was  christened  Edwin  Lamson  Stanton,  and  again  Stan- 
ton was  happy. 

For  the  third  time  in  succession  he  represented  his  district  in 
the  Democratic  State  convention,  which  met  at  Columbus  on  Jan- 
uary 8,  1844,  to  open  the  presidential  campaign.  He  was  again 
a  member  of  the  committee  on  platform  and  "address  to  the  peo- 
ple," and  on  the  committee  to  select  presidential  electors  and  dele- 
gates to  the  national  convention. 

Being  present  solely  in  the  interest  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  the 
personal  friend  of  his  partner  (Judge  Tappan),  he  subordinated 
everything  to  securing  "sure"  Van  Buren  delegates  to  the  national 
convention,  and  succeeded.     He  drafted  the  resolution  on  banksf 


*First  a  student  and  then  a  partner  in  Stanton's  office. 


tRESOLVED,  That  the  power  to  incorporate  a  bank  is  not  one  of  the 
powers  granted  to  the  Federal  Government  by  the  constitution;  that  such 
an  institution  is  neither  "necessary"  nor  "proper,"  within  the  meaning  of  the 
constitution,  to  carry  into  effect  any  powers  granted,  nor  is  it  incidental  to 
any  of  them;  that  it  was  the  design  of  the  framers  of  the  constitution  to  cre- 
ate a  Government  which  should  avoid  the  evils  of  a  system  of  Govern- 
ment paper  money,  by  denying  it  the  right  to  create  a  paper  currency;  that 
we  regard  the  chartering  of  a  bank  by  Congress  not  only  as  a  direct  as- 
sumption of  power  not  authorized  by  the  constitution,  but  as  an  infringe- 


DEATH  OF  HIS  IDOLS  39 

and  that  on  the  tariff,  but  did  not  participate  in  composing  the  "ad- 
dress to  the  people,"  which,  like  previous  Ohio  Democratic  enuncia- 
tions, declared  practically  for  free  trade,  and  which,  he  said,  was 
"absurd  and  a  tendency  toward  direct  taxation,  and  direct  taxation 
would  break  any  party  bringing  it  about." 

By  far  the  sorest  affliction  of  his  life  came  a  few  weeks  later 
in  the  sudden  death  in  child-birth  of  his  wife  Mary,  on  March  13, 
1844.  He  had  sold  his  dwelling  on  Third  Street  and  leased  for  a 
long  term  of  years  and  moved  into  the  largest  and  finest  house  in 
the  city — the  new  Andrews  residence.  He  had  an  increasing 
business,  an  expanding  reputation,  and  great  prosperity,  and  was 
full  of  life  and  hope. 

"Although  not  thirty  when  Mary  died,  Stanton  was  king  of 
Steubenville,"  says  the  Reverend  Joseph  Buchanan  ;  "acknowledged 
to  have  the  best  and  most  lucrative  practise  in  the  locality.  Being 
thus  buoyant  and  satisfied,  the  death  of  his  wife  seemed  particularly 
unexpected  and  hard  to  bear.  In  fact  it  rendered  him  thoroughly 
irresponsible.  He  threw  her  wedding  rings  and  other  jewels  into 
the  coffin  and  wanted  her  letters  buried  with  her,  too.  My  mother 
removed  them  repeatedly,  only  to  find  them  again  returned  to  the 
casket.  She  was  unable  to  pacify  him,  and  it  was  only  by  exercising 
good  judgment  that  she  finally  prevented  the  burial  of  Mary's  valu- 
able rings  and  trinkets." 

Ann  Elliot,  a  seamstress,  made  Mrs.  Stanton's  grave  clothes, 
and  was  compelled  to  alter  the  garments  several  times  to  suit 
Stanton.  "He  wanted  his  wife  to  look,"  said  Miss  Elliot,  "when 
dressed  for  the  grave,  just  as  she  did  seven  years  before  at  the  mar- 
riage altar.  'She  is  my  bride  and  shall  be  dressed  and  buried 
like  a  bride,'  said  he,  as  he  sat  by  her  side  moaning  and  weeping." 

"I  can  hardly  speak  adequately  of  the  death  of  Mary,"  says  Wil- 
liam Stanton  Buchanan,  "which  occurred  two  days  before  the 
meeting  of  the  March  term  of  the  supreme  court.  As  Stanton  was 
engaged  in  every  case,  no  court  was  held  in  Jefferson  County  for 
that  term.  He  could  not  work  and  could  not  be  consoled.  He 
walked  the  floor  incessantly,  crying  and  moaning.  At  night  he 
placed  her  night-cap  and  gown  on  his  pillow  and  cried  and  cried  for 
his  dear  Mary.  After  her  burial  he  himself  put  white  stones  around 


ment  on  the  right  of  the  States,  dangerous  to  the  just  independence  and 
integrity  of  the  Government,  and  fraught  with  perils  to  the  rights  and  liber- 
ties of  the  people. 


40  EDWIX  McMASTERS  STANTON 

the  grave,  and  visited  it  every  morning  early  to  see  if  a  single  one 
had  been  removed  and  also  to  place  flowers  upon  his  beloved  one's 
breast.  He  not  only  did  this,  but  for  some  days  sent  his  gardener, 
Alfred  Taylor,  to  guard  like  a  soldier  the  resting-place  of  his  idol- 
ized wife." 

"For  years,  when  at  home,  Stanton  went  regularly  twice  a 
week  to  decorate  ^Mary's  grave,  and,"  says  Alfred  Taylor,  "on  Sun- 
days went  alone  to  meet  her."  At  the  head  of  her  grave  he  planted 
a  sprig  of  weeping  willow  which  a  friend  brought  from  Napoleon's 
burial  place  on  St.  Helena.* 

I\Iary's  death  wrought  a  complete  change  in  his  manner  and 
thought.  "Where  formerly  he  met  everybody  with  hearty  and 
cheerful  greeting,"  says  Mrs.  Davison  Filson  of  Steubenville,  "he 
now  moved  about  in  silence  and  gloom,  with  head  bowed  and  hands 
clasped  behind."  He  kept  aloof  from  public  and  social  gatherings, 
but  gave  enlarged  attention  to  religious  matters. 

Before  her  death,  when  mounting  his  carriage  on  Sunday  to 
drive  to  Cadiz,  Carrollton,  or  New  Lisbon,  in  order  to  be  present  at 
the  opening  of  court  on  Monday  morning,  ISIary  generally  slipped 
a  letter  into  his  hand  to  be  opened  and  read  on  the  road,  containing 
besides  her  expressions  of  regard  and  affection,  gentle  but  earnest 
arguments  and  protests  against, traveling  to  court  on  the  Sabbath 
Day.  He  really  wanted  to  please  her,  but  was  more  than  full  of 
business — earning  money  for  her,  as  he  explained  Dy  way  of  justi- 
fication— and  felt  compelled  to  travel  on  Sunday  when  it  was 
necessary  to  appear  in  court  away  from  home  on  Monday  morning. 
After  Mary's  death  these  letters  produced  a  strong  effect  on  Stan- 
ton, which  lasted,  in  a  modified  degree,  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

History  affords  no  example  of  more  passionate  and  lasting  mari- 
tal affection.  Stanton  and  his  wife  were  totally  unlike,  yet  they 
lived  wholly  for  each  other ;  and  if  the  husband  transgressed  at  all, 
it  was  "for  Mary."  He  worshipped  her  till  the  day  of  his  death, 
shortly  before  which,  the  last  time  he  was  in  Steubenville  (Septem- 
ber, 1868),  he  spent  an  evening  hour  alone  at  her  grave.  He  was 
like  Burns,  who  married  and  reared  a  family  but  never  ceased  to 


*"On  a  lone,  barren  isle,  where  the  wide-rolling  billow 
Assails  the  stern  rocks  and  the  loud  tempests  rave, 
A  hero  lies  still,  whilst  a  low-drooping  willow, 

Like  some  fond,  weeping  mourner,  leans  over  his  grave.* 


DEATH  OF  HIS  IDOLS  41 


mourn  for  his  Highland  Mary,  taken  from  him  in  his  youth 

Still  o'er  those  scenes  my  mem'ry  wakes, 
And  fondly  broods  with  miser  care! 

Time  but  th'  impression  stronger  makes, 
As  streams  their  channels  deeper  wear. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
GREAT  CASES— A  TRAGEDY. 

Martin  Van  Buren,  his  favorite  candidate,  having  been  de- 
feated in  convention  by  James  K.  Polk,  and  being  in  deep  distress 
over  the  death  of  his  wife,  Stanton  took  Httle  part  in  the  presidential 
campaign  of  1844;  he  simply  buried  himself  in  the  law.  The  follow- 
ing year  was  also  devoted  exclusively  to  his  clients.  The  partner- 
ship between  Tappan  and  Stanton  was  succeeded  by  that  of  Stan- 
ton and  McCook ;  and  there  were  Stanton  and  Peppard  at  Cadiz ; 
Umbstaetter,  Stanton,  and  Wallace  at  New  Lisbon ;  special  partners 
at  other  points,  like  Daniel  Peck  at  St.  Clairsville,  E.  R.  Eckley  at 
Carrollton,  Joseph  ("Percent.")  Sharon  in  Harrison,  Judge  Charles 
Shaler  at  Pittsburg,  and  others  at  Salem,  Wheeling,  and  New 
Philadelphia.  Generally,  local  contests  were  left  in  charge  of  local 
partners,  while  appealed  cases  and  practise  in  the  State  supreme 
and  federal  courts  received  his  personal  attention. 

The  final  re-trial  of  the  great  case  of  John  Moore  vs.  Gano, 
Thoms,  and  Talbot,  came  on  during  the  March  term  in  1845.  It 
was  the  end  of  the  tug  of  war  in  the  greatest  of  Stanton's  early  legal 
battles — a  struggle  which  lasted  about  ten  years.  In  1835  William 
Talbot,  William  Thoms,  and  Aaron  G.  Gano  formed  a  partnership 
for  the  purpose  of  "cornering"  the  pork  and  lard  market.  To  carry 
on  their  enormous  transactions  resort  was  had  to  extensive  borrow- 
ing. After  the  panic  of  1837  the  business  became  disastrous,  a  single 
loss  to  one  of  the  partners  reaching  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
In  1838  John  Moore,  a  creditor,  secured  judgment  for  twenty-three 
thousand  dollars  against  William  Talbot,  a  member  of  the  firm,  who 
was  unable  to  pay  but  who  was  the  only  one  on  whom  summons 
was  served.  In  1839  suit  was  brought  to  subject  Gano  and  Thoms, 
the  wealthy  partners,  to  the  judgment,  which  was  defeated.  Follow- 
ing this  result,  Stanton  must  secure  a  new  trial  or  be  permanently 
routed.  After  exhaustive  research,  at  the  December  term,  1843, 
before  the  court  in  banc,  he  made  his  famous  argument  for  a  new 


GREAT  CASES— A  TRAGEDY  43 

tiial,  which  was  granted.  He  then  began  laying  plans  for  success. 
"1  must  succeed,"  he  said,  "or  my  client  will  be  ruined." 

The  efforts  made  to  carry  out  his  purpose  are  astounding.  He 
traveled  to  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Phila- 
delphia, Cincinnati,  and  elsewhere  gathering  facts.  When  he  came 
into  court,  he  had  so  thoroughly  sifted,  digested,  and  weighed  every 
item  of  evidence  on  both  sides  and  was  so  completely  familiar  with 
the  whole  range  of  the  firm's  transactions  that  the  opposing  attor- 
neys were  completely  over-matched  and  Court  and  jury  instinctively 
looked  to  him  for  information.  He  prepared  and  had  in  court  sev- 
eral manuscript  books  to  cover  everything  known  about  the  case. 
One  book  contained  all  the  financial  transactions,  itemized  and 
analyzed;  another  all  the  correspondence  of  the  firm  and  its  mem- 
bers, conveniently  briefed ;  another  a  list  of  all  the  purchases ;  an- 
other all  of  the  sales ;  another  all  of  the  credits ;  another  all  of  the 
profits  and  losses ;  another  a  digested  abstract  of  testimony  in  pre- 
vious trials ;  another  the  laws  and  decisions  applicable  to  contro- 
verted points  ;  another  a  "course  of  argument"  for  the  jury  ;  and  still 
another  a  "line  of  argument"  for  the  Court. 

Says  John  McCracken  of  Steubenville: 

Stanton  had  about  staked  his  life  on  winning.  He  argued  part  of  one 
day  and  all  of  the  next.  Before  noon  he  had  torn  off  his  cravat  and 
opened  the  collar  of  his  shirt,  for  he  always  feared  apoplexy.  As  night 
drew  on  I  thought  he  would  drop  dead.  He  was  black  in  the  face.  In  the 
evening  the  case  went  to  the  jury.  Stanton  left  the  chamber  and  all  night 
he  and  I  walked  up  and  down  in  front  of  the  court-house,  discussing  the 
trial  and  waiting  for  a  verdict.  Finally,  at  sunrise,  the  jury  brought  in  a 
verdict  for  Stanton,  and  his  rejoicing  was  ten  times  greater  than  that 
of  the  client  he  had  saved  from  ruin. 

Although  more  than  half  a  century  has  elapsed,  the  "Pork  Case" 
is  still  one  of  the  notable  things  talked  about  in  and  around  Steuben- 
ville whenever  Stanton  is  under  discussion.  In  one  way  or  another, 
for  more  than  ten  years,  its  principals  were  valuable  clients.  What 
is  said  to  be  Stanton's  first  clean  fee  of  five  thousand  dollars  came 
from  one  of  the  complainants,  Mordecai  Moore,  who  borrowed  ten 
thousand  dollars  from  the  United  States  Bank  of  Pittsburg,  char- 
tered by  the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania  after  the  expiration  of  the 
charter  of  the  United  States  bank.  As  security  for  payment,  he 
executed  a  mortgage  on  his  farm  in  Ohio.  When  the  note  matured 
the  bank  undertook  to  foreclose  the  mortgage,  and  Stanton  for  de- 


44  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

fense  declared  that  the  bank  was  a  State  institution  and  had  no  right 
to  take  Hens  upon  land  outside  of  Pennsylvania.  The  Court  sus- 
tained the  defense,  and  Moore  paid  Stanton  five  thousand  dollars 
for  the  victory. 

In  1845  Caleb  J.  McNulty  of  Mt.  Vernon,  Ohio,  clerk  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  at  Washington,  was  alleged  to  be  a  de- 
faulter to  the  extent  of  forty-four  thousand,  five  hundred  dollars. 
He  was  dismissed  by  unanimous  vote  of  the  House,  and  indicted  for 
embezzlement  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  United  States  Senator 
Benjamin  Tappan,  Stanton's  partner,  was  one  of  the  bondsmen  for 
McNulty,  who,  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  had  made  Stanton's 
brother  Darwin  his  assistant.  That  McNulty  was  in  default  was  not 
denied,  and  Democratic  journals  loudly  demanded  his  punishment 
and  full  restitution  to  the  Federal  treasury  by  his  bondsmen  and 
political  backers,  in  order  to  save  the  party  honor  untarnished. 

Oblivious  of  public  clamor,  Stanton  took  the  case,  determined  to 
clear  his  client  and  discharge  the  liability  of  his  old  friend  Tappan ; 
and  by  the  interposition  of  many  technical  and  legal  points  brought 
out  unexpectedly  and  pressed  upon  the  Court  with  swiftness  and 
vigor,  he  induced  Judge  Crawford  to  dismiss  further  proceedings 
under  the  indictment.  His  manifestation  of  ability  and  energy, 
coupled  with  boldness  and  readiness  to  meet  and  upset  unexpected 
points  in  the  case,  attracted  attention  and  admiration  in  Washing- 
ton, where  he  was  a  new  figure.  His  style  was  fresh  and  full  of 
originality  and  power,  and  captivated  court,  spectators,  and  news- 
papers. He  left  the  capital  on  his  birth-day — the  day  of  victory — at 
the  age  of  thirty-one  with  the  reputation  of  a  master  jurist,  which 
was,  above  all  things,  the  result  he  was  seeking. 

The  year  1846  was  more  eventful.  At  a  mass  meeting  held  on 
June  9,  Stanton  presented  resolutions  endorsing  the  Mexican  war 
and  reciting  reasons  why  the  people  should  stand  by  the  adminis- 
tration in  its  prosecution.  The  community  was  not  a  unit  on  the 
subject,  but  the  "Steubenville  Greys,"  a  military  organization  com- 
prising the  leading  young  men  of  the  city  and  commanded  by  his 
partner,  George  W.  McCook,  voted  to  tender  their  services  to 
the  Government.  The  tender  was  accepted,  and  before  the  young 
soldiers  left  for  the  front,  Stanton  drew  wills  for  them,  or  gave 
advice  as  to  arranging  their  personal  affairs  for  the  contingency  of 
death.  He  himself  had  proposed  to  accompany  them,  or  raise  an- 
other body  of  volunteers,  but  was  advised  by  Dr.  Tappan  that  he 


Alfred  Taylor. 


jAMLb    'i  L  RMa  LL. 


GREAT  CASES— A  TRAGEDY  45 

would  not  be  accepted  by  the  army  surgeon  because  of  the  se- 
verity and  frequency  of  his  asthmatic  attacks.  Subsequent  events 
proved  that  it  was  well  that  he  remained  at  home. 

In  August,  1846,  his  brother.  Dr.  Darwin  E.  Stanton,  assist- 
ant clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  returned  from  Washing- 
to  his  home  in  Virginia,  across  the  river  from  Steubenville,  ill 
of  fever.  The  attack  increased  in  severity  until,  the  patient's  rea- 
son having  become  unsettled,  he  secured  one  of  his  own  lances 
and  severed  the  femoral  artery.  "He  bled  to  death  in  a  few  mo- 
ments, in  the  presence  of  his  mother,"  says  Alfred  Taylor.  "Neigh- 
bors came  in  and  I  sent  William  Inglebright  over  the  river  to  Steu- 
benville to  carry  the  news.  Edwin  M.  Stanton  came  over  at  once, 
but  on  seeing  how  terrible  the  happening  was,  lost  self-control  and 
wandered  off  into  the  woods  without  his  hat  or  coat.  John  Knox, 
assisted  by  William  Brown*  brought  him  back  and  Dr.  Sinclair, 
fearing  a  second  suicide,  ordered  Knox  and  Samuel  Filson  to  watch 
him  every  moment." 

As  Darwin  left  no  unencumbered  estate,  Stanton  gathered 
the  stricken  widow  and  her  three  children  into  his  own  house 
in  Steubenville,  where  they  shared  equally  with  his  mother  and 
son  the  generous  provision  he  loved  to  make  for  those  around 
him. 


*William  Brown,  one  of  Stanton's  cronies,  a  resident  of  Holiday's  Cove, 
says:  "I  was  not  present  at  the  death  of  Darwin,  but  I  chased  and  caught 
his  brother  Edwin,  who,  insane  over  the  event,  was  running  about  in  the 
woods." 


CHAPTER  IX. 
STEUBENVILLE  ANECDOTES   AND   REMINISCENCES. 

Stanton's  practise  being  now  almost  exclusively  in  the  higher 
courts  of  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia,  he  was  compelled  to 
seek  a  larger  base  from  which  to  carry  it  on.  Therefore,  in  1847, 
he  established  headquarters  in  Pittsburg.  Before  following  him 
thither  some  further  reminiscences  of  him  at  home  will  be  given. 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Steubenville  city  council,  in  January, 
1847,  an  ordinance  was  adopted  creating  the  office  of  city  solicitor, 
and  Stanton  was  next  moment  unanimously  elected  to  the  position. 
The  city  was  infested  with  a  rough  and  dangerous  element  from  the 
Ohio  River,  and  petty  crimes  were  numerous.  The  public  rose  up 
and  invoked  his  aid  in  quelling  the  disorder.  He  responded  ef- 
fectually. At  the  first  trial  of  delinquents  after  his  appointment, 
there  was  a  great  gathering  of  malefactors  in  court.  \\' ith  a  rasp- 
ing hiss,  waving  his  hand  over  the  noisome  crowd,  he  called  them 
the  "rats  of  Steubenville,"  and  declared  that  he  intended  to  "trap 
and  exterminate  them  all,"  The  name  of  "rats"  clung  to  them  for 
years ;  but  Stanton  soon  drove  them  to  their  lairs  and  brought  the 
city  back  to  comparative   security. 

On  March  8,  1847,  he  was  elected  a  director  of  the  Fire  De- 
partment and,  dressed  in  the  regulation  belt  and  blouse  of  a  fire- 
man, rode  a  fine  horse  at  the  head  of  the  annual  procession,  as 
marshal  of  the  day.  In  June,  1847,  he  made  the  address  of  welcome 
to  Captain  McCook's  "Steubenville  Greys"  on  their  return  from  the 
Mexican  war. 

The  Reverend  Samuel  Longden  of  Greencastle,  Indiana,  relates 
the  following: 

A  young  man  named  Burney,  who  was  a  member  of  my  church,  em- 
ployed Mr.  Stanton  to  bring  suit  against  Dr.  Barnes,  for  malpractise.  The 
case  primarily  was  that  of  luxation  of  the  knee-joint  backwards.  The  sur- 
geon treated  the  young  man  for  fracture  of  the  tibia,  and  continued  the 
mistreatment  until  the  patient  was  crippled  for  life.  When  the  trial  came 
on  Mr.  Stanton  had  in  court  the  bones  of  the  human  leg  in  normal   and 


STEUBENVILLE  ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES         47 

many  abnormal  conditions.  He  had  spent  several  days  in  the  office  of  Dr. 
Thomas  Cummings  studying  fractures,  dislocations,  and  general  surgery, 
and  was  able  to  put  the  expert  witnesses  all  to  rout.  He  was  clear,  master- 
ful, and  convincing.  The  jury  believed  him  implicitly,  for  he  was  an  hon- 
est man.  In  my  long  career  I  have  never  heard  from  the  rostrum,  the 
pulpit,  or  the  bar  such  absolutely  convincing  argument  and  forcible  ora- 
tory as  I  heard  from  Edwin  M.  Stanton  before  he  was  thirty  years  of  age. 
They  tell  me  that  in  court,  warring  for  his  clients,  he  was  sometimes  like  an 
iron  avalanche;  but  I  must  aver  that  in  society  he  was  as  sweet  and  gra- 
cious and  altogether  as  attractive  as  any  man  I  ever  met,  and  a  good 
man,  too. 

Dr.  B.  Mears,  a  physician  of  Steubenville,  reported  that  he  had 
delivered  Rectina  McKinley,  spinster,  of  a  child.  Stanton,  in  her 
behalf,  brought  suit  against  the  doctor  for  slander,  recovering  one 
thousand  dollars  damages.  Shortly  after  the  money  was  due  on 
execution,  but  previous  to  its  payment,  William  Ralston,  a  thrifty 
bachelor,  married  Miss  McKinley.  After  the  marriage,  Ralston 
called  upon  Stanton. 

"Well,  Billy,"  said  Stanton,  who  knew  him  well,  "you  married 
Rectina  and  you  have  a  good  wife." 

"Yes,  I  believe  I  have ;  and  I  am  calling  to  see  if  you  have  col- 
lected the  Mears  claim." 

"Yes,  Billy,  it's  all  paid  in.  You  now  have  a  good  wife.  I  have 
proved  to  the  world  that  she  is  without  a  blemish.  I  charged  only 
one  thousand  dollars  for  sending  her  out  of  court  with  a  good  char- 
acter. A  judgment  of  one  thousand  dollars  as  a  bait  to  catch  a  good 
husband,  such  as  I  believe  you  to  be,  is  cheap,  cheap  as  dirt."  So 
he  kept  the  one  thousand  dollars,  but  Ralston,  after  that,  never  was 
friendly  to  lawyers. 

Valentine  Owesney,  a  provision  merchant  of  Steubenville,  was 
robbed  of  about  five  hundred  dollars  in  cash.  A  certain  character 
was  suspected,  arrested,  and  put  upon  trial.  He  was  defended  by 
Stanton  and  acquitted,  and  immediately  afterward  disappeared. 
Shortly  after  his  disappearance,  Stanton  walked  into  Owesney's 
store  and,  throwing  down  three  hundred  dollars  in  cash,  observed 
that  now  he  had  paid  what  he  had  been  owing.  Owesney,  an  honest 
German,  was  nonplussed,  for  Stanton  owed  him  nothing,  and  in- 
quired the  meaning  of  the  performance.  Stanton  explained  that  the 
man  arrested  for  robbing  the  store  and  acquitted  was  really  guilty. 
"I  cleared  him,"  said  he,  "got  back  the  money  and  sent  him  out  of 
the  country.    I  gave  him  fifty  dollars  to  travel  on ;  about  one  hun- 


48  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

dred  dollars  was  used  in  the  expense  of  the  trial ;  I  have  kept  fifty- 
dollars  for  my  fee  and  here  is  the  remainder,  which  is  your  share." 
The  Reverend  James  L.  Vallandigham  of  Newark,  Delaware, 
who  was  practising  law  at  New  Lisbon,  Ohio,  when  Stanton  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  says: 

A  controversy  that  gained  much  fame  for  Stanton  arose  from  the 
effort  of  disaffected  members  of  the  Economy  Society  of  Beaver  County, 
Pennsylvania,  to  dissolve  and  wind  up  the  association.  He  appeared  for 
the  insurgent  members  and  at  the  lower  trials,  by  his  matchless  skill  as  a 
lawyer  and  profound  exposition  of  the  true  economics  of  industrial  and 
religious  life,  won  successive  verdicts.  His  knowledge  of  religion  and 
the  Bible  was  so  great  that  the  elders  of  the  Economy  Society  believed 
he  was,  or  had  been,  a  regularly  ordained  minister  of  the  gospel. 

Joseph  M.  Rickey  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  contributes  the  following: 

Mr.  Stanton  and  Roderick  S.  Moodey,  an  attorney  of  distinguished 
ability,  conducted  a  trial  in  the  old  court-house  when  I  was  deputy  clerk. 
Moodey,  after  examining  a  witness,  turned  him  over  to  Stanton,  who  opened 
on  him  a  raking  fire  of  questions.  Moodey,  in  sympathy  for  the  wounded 
feelings  of  his  witness,  turned  to  Stanton  and  remonstrated.  Stanton,  in  a 
gutteral  tone,  ordered  Moodey  to  make  his  appeal  to  the  Court  and  "quit 
whining."  Moodey  retorted:  "I  don't  think  a  whine  is  any  worse  than  a 
bark" — giving  peculiar  emphasis  to  the  word  "bark"  in  imitation  of  the 
bull-dog  voice  of  Stanton.  Quickly  and  imperiously  Stanton  replied:  "Oh, 
yes,  Mr.  Moodey,  there  is  a  difference — dogs  bark  and  puppies  whine." 
Moodey  was  bursting  with  rage.  The  court,  seeing  the  rising  storm,  ad- 
journed. Moodey  returned  during  the  recess  and  paced  the  corridors. 
As  soon  as  Stanton  and  his  partner  McCook  appeared,  arm-in-arm,  Moodey 
flung  his  coat,  and  pounced  onto  Stanton  with  the  fury  of  a  panther.  Spec- 
tacles, papers,  and  hat  flew  in  all  directions.  In  a  moment  the  stalwart 
McCook  snatched  Moodey  away  and  by-standers  gathered  up  Stanton's 
scattered  things.  When  court  was  called  the  case  proceeded  as  if  nothing 
had  occurred.  Stanton  and  Moodey  soon  became  friends*  and  their  inti- 
macy grew  warmer  as  they  advanced  in  life. 

During  the  winter  of  1847,  the  community  was  pretty  thor- 
oughly stirred  up  over  the  performance  of  a  traveling  mesmerist 
named  Wilson,  who  claimed  to  have  supernatural  powers,  and  Stan- 
ton was  angry  to  think  his  townspeople  could  be  gulled  by  such 
a  mountebank.  To  prove  the  fraud,  and  that  mesmerism  or  animal 
magnetism  (now  called  hypnotism)  was  a  common  gift,  differing 
in  degree  only  as  physical  or  mental  strength  diflfers  in  different 


*When,  in  1863,  a  law  was   enacted  authorizing  Stanton  to   appoint   a 
solicitor  of  the  War  Department,  he  offered  the  position  to  Moodey. 


STEUBENVILLE  ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES         49 

persons,  he  gave  a  public  exhibition,  at  which  the  people  attended 
without  price. 

"I  was  present  in  a  front  seat,"  says  Mrs.  Davison  Filson  of 
Steubenville.  "Calling  for  volunteer  subjects,  he  put  many  'to 
sleep'  as  it  was  called,  and  controlled  them,  bringing  them  out  at 
will.  One  night,  however,  in  Stier's  Hall,  he  went  too  far  in  mes- 
merizing a  man  named  Taylor,  an  employe  of  the  paper  mill.  After 
controlling  the  subject  for  a  time  he  failed  to  bring  the  usual  return 
to  consciousness.  Repeated  efforts  resulted  similarly,  and  the  au- 
dience became  frightened.  However,  after  great  exertion,  Mr.  Stan- 
ton succeeded  in  bringing  the  subject  back  to  life,  and  that  ended 
public  exhibitions  of  mesmerism  in  Steubenville.  It  also  exploded 
the  idea  that  the  stranger  was  a  supernatural  being — had  'help  from 
on  high' — and  the  people  spent  no  more  money  on  him." 

Between  Stanton's  residence  and  the  river  stood  a  large  factory 
for  the  production  of  glass.  The  soot,  smoke,  and  cinders  from  its 
furnaces  constituted  an  especial  nuisance.  Therefore,  in  1847,  he 
purchased  the  factory  and  the  considerable  tract  of  land  on  which  it 
stood,  and,  after  dismantling  the  works,  built  in  its  stead  a  house 
for  his  gardener,  Alfred  Taylor.  Around  the  house  he  planted  fruit 
and  other  trees,  and  laid  out  the  finest  garden  ever  seen  in 
Steubenville.  To  this  tract  the  Stantons  gave  the  name  of  "The 
Patch."  Although  now  subdivided  by  streets  and  alleys — one  of 
which  is  Stanton  Street — and  covered  with  houses,  that  section  of 
the  city  is  still  popularly  described  as  "Stanton's  Patch." 

"The  glass-house  land  was  very  rich  and  produced  abundantly," 
says  Alfred  Taylor.  "I  not  only  had  enough  vegetables  and  fruits 
from  it  for  Mr.  Stanton's  large  household,  but  much  to  sell.  I  pro- 
duced there  the  first  celery  ever  raised  in  Steubenville,  and  had  also 
many  novel  plants  and  herbs.  The  fruit  trees  and  vines  comprised 
apples,  peaches,  quinces,  plums,  cherries,  currants,  pears,  and  grapes. 
The  production  of  grapes  was  heavy,  and  sometimes  we  had  hun- 
dreds of  bushels  of  peaches  beyond  family  requirements,  for  sale. 
They  always  brought  a  high  price.  Mr.  Stanton  had  great  pride  in 
his  garden.  He  loved  a  good  table  and  wanted  to  produce  as  many 
of  the  luxuries  as  possible  on  his  own  land — not  to  save  money, 
for  he  was  earning  large  sums,  but  to  secure  a  quality  higher  than 
that  of  any  we  could  buy." 

Besides  his  fruit  trees,  greenhouse,  and  a  garden,  he  had  a  few 
high-grade  young  cattle  which  were  a  source  of  much  satisfaction. 


50  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

He  often  went  to  fondle  them ;  and  when  the  men  were  making  hay, 
was  delighted,  toward  evening,  to  help  them  "pitch  on."  Having  a 
frame  of  great  power,  although  unaccustomed  to  labor  of  that  kind, 
l}e  could  lift  a  larger  rick  of  hay  than  any  of  his  men. 

"Once,  while  pitching  to  the  wagon,"  says  Alfred  Taylor,  "Mr, 
Stanton  broke  a  new  white-ash  fork's  tail  in  an  attempt  to  show  how 
big  a  load  he  could  lift.  The  tines  of  that  fork  I  am  using  on  my 
farm  near  Holiday's  Cove,  West  Virginia.  He  loved,  on  arriving 
from  Pittsburg  and  elsewhere,  to  come  to  the  stable  where  we  were 
milking  and,  seated  on  a  hand-made  milking-stool,  talk  about  the 
stock  and  home  affairs.    The  old  stool  is  still  in  use  in  my  stable."' 

John  Mullen  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  for  years  a  tutor  of  dancing 
and  music  in  Steubenville,  was  first  an  errand  and  house-boy  and 
then  hostler  for  Stanton.  His  recollections  give  a  peculiarly  inter- 
esting inside  view  of  Stanton's  life  in  Steubenville : 

I  came  to  Mr.  Stanton  early  in  1847.  I  had  lost  my  mother  and  in 
the  fall  father  followed  her.  My  heart  was  broken  entirely.  I  had  a  sister, 
but  she  was  young  like  myself,  and  what  could  we  do  alone  in  a  strange 
country?  I  was  moaning  and  crying  when  Mr.  Stanton  came  to  me  and 
wiping  away  the  tears  with  his  soft  silk  handkerchief,  said,  oh,  so  kindly: 
"Never  mind,  Johnnie;  I  will  be  your  father.  You  can  live  with  me.  I 
will  care  for  and  clothe  you;  send  you  to  college  and  build  a  house  for 
your  sister."  So  I  was  comforted,  for  no  one  could  have  been  more  kind 
and  loving  than  he  was  to  me. 

After  the  middle  of  1847  Mr.  Stanton  spent  only  a  portion  of  his  time 
in  Steubenville,  but  he  kept  his  house  and  yard  up  beautifully,  and  as  long 
as  he  lived  called  it  home.  In  the  yard  were  roses  and  many  kinds  of 
flowers  which  he  loved,  and  the  finest  lawn  ever  seen  in  town.  He  said, 
"Always  keep  mother  in  money;  give  her  what  she  wants."  When  we  fell 
short  of  money  during  Mr.  Stanton's  absence  I  went  to  Colonel  McCook 
and  got  more.  No  one  about  the  house  wanted  for  anything.  In  fact,  the 
neighbors  thought  that  the  young  children  of  Stanton's  sister  and  sister-in- 
law,  who  lived  with  him,  were  too  luxuriously  provided  for. 

With  himself  Mr.  Stanton  was  not  so  liberal.  He  smoked  cigars  and 
wore  very  good  clothes,  but  had  no  other  personal  extravagances.  His  hab- 
its were  of  the  very  best.  He  had  no  wine  on  the  table;  did  not  keep  it  in 
the  house.  He  belonged  to  no  gay  clubs  and  gave  no  time  to  pleasure. 
His  clothing  was  always  of  very  fine  material  but  modestly  made  up,  and 
in  winter  and  on  chilly  evenings  he  wore  a  heavy  military  cloak.  He  was  . 
a  princely-looking  man,  with  dark,  silken,  flowing  beard;  very  polite  though 
reserved. 

Sometimes,  but  not  often,  he  drove  out  with  his  mother  and  sister 
and  sister-in-law  and  the  children;  but  generally  Alfred  Taylor  was  the 
family  driver.     The  carriage  was  a  large  covered  double-seated  rig,  and  the 


Chauncey  Dewey.  William  Stanton  Buchanan. 

Stanton's  Law  Partners. 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSmf  OF  ILUNOIS 


STEUBENVILLE  ANECDOTES  AND  REMINISCENCES         51 

horses  the  finest  he  could  buy.     He  loved  a  good  horse. 

On  returning  home  after  considerable  absences,  Mr.  Stanton  invariably 
brought  presents  for  all,  including  the  servants.  He  never  came  to  Steu- 
benville  without  visiting  the  grave  of  his  wife.  When  at  home  for  any 
length  of  time  he  went  twice  weekly  to  her  resting-place.  I  often  ac- 
companied him,  to  trim  the  grass  and  cultivate  the  flowers.  He  wept  and 
was  very  sad  at  these  times,  and  his  mind  seemed  to  slip  way  back  into  the 
past.  His  grief  made  such  an  impression  on  me  that  I  thought  he  would 
never  marry  again  and  that  I,  who  loved  him  so  well,  ought  never  to  marry 
at  all,  and  I  have  kept  the  faith. 

Mr.  Stanton  was  liberal  not  only  to  the  great  number  in  his  house, 
but  to  the  churches.  He  gave  freely  to  all.  I  was  a  Catholic  and  he  gave 
money  to  me  to  spend  as  my  own  for  church  purposes.  I  recollect  that  he 
entertained  Archbishop  Purcell  of  Cincinnati  in  his  own  home  and  always 
listened  to  the  Archbishop's  sermons  in  Steubenville.  He  liked  Purcell 
because  he  had  brains.  He  sought  and  cultivated  smart  men,  and  he  loved 
little  children. 

I  do  not  think  he  cared  for  women  generally.  He  did  not  seem  to 
know  many  of  them  and  spent  no  time  with  those  he  did  know.  But  he 
loved  his  son  Eddie  passionately.  Often  I  have  seen  them  walking  about 
the  yard,  which  was  surrounded  by  a  high,  closed  fence  so  as  to  keep  the 
public  out,  clasped  arm  and  arm  about  like  two  school  girls.  He  mourned 
deeply  over  the  loss  of  an  eye*  by  his  son  Eddie,  and  was  ever  warning  the 
lad  to  be  careful  of  his  health. 

In  the  summer  of  1848  I  took  the  horses  and  carriage  over  to  Pitts- 
burg— a  very  long,  rough  drive.  On  arriving  I  went  for  my  meal  to  the  St. 
Charles  Hotel,  where  Mr.  Stanton  boarded.  I  was  very  hungry,  but  as  I 
did  not  know  how  to  order  from  a  fancy  French  bill-of-fare,  and  was  too 
much  scared  by  the  splendor  of  the  surroundings  to  ask  questions,  I  had 
nothing  to  eat  except  a  glass  of  water  and  a  couple  of  crackers  that 
happened  to  be  left  near  my  plate.  As  I  came  out  of  the  grand  dining- 
hall  Mr.  Stanton  noticed  that  I  looked  crestfallen  and  asked  me  if  I  had 
a  good  meal.  I  told  him  the  truth.  He  enjoyed  the  joke  but  promptly 
took  me  to  a  fine  restaurant  and,  ordering  a  heavy  meal  for  me,  told  the 
waiter  to  see  that  I  made  no  mistake  this  time.  When  I  saw  him  pay 
a  dollar  for  it  I  was  astonished,  truly.  I  wrote  back  to  my  friends  in 
Ireland  that  in  America  a  snug  little  hostler  like  myself,  when  away  on 
a  journey,  could  have  grand  dinners  in  gilded  dining-halls  at  the  master's 
expense  of  a  dollar  each,  and  everybody  should  make  haste  to  come  over. 

As  to  work,  Samson  could  not  outdo  him.  Frequently,  at  10  or  11  at 
night  I  have  taken  the  cart  and  gone  with  him  to  the  ofifice  to  fetch  a  load 
of  law  books  to  the  house,  and  whenever  I  did  that,  I  do  not  believe  he  slept 
a  wink  but  plowed  and  studied  and  thought  and  walked  up  and  down 
the  room  all  night. 


*  "Destroyed  when  small,"  W.  S.  Buchanan  says,  "by  a  penknife  which 
Stanton  threw  into  the  fire  during  his  first  distress  over  the  painful  acci- 
dent." 


52  EDWIN  McMaSTErS  STANTON 


I  can  remember  but  little  about  his  law  practise  except  that  he  was 
going  all  the  time  and  that  it  was  important  and  profitable.  Once,  while 
I  was  in  the  office,  a  farmer  for  whom  he  won  a  suit  involving  perhaps 
$20,000,  came  in.  "What  is  your  bill?"  inquired  the  man.  "One  thousand 
dollars,"  replied  Mr.  Stanton.  The  man  was  speechless,  for  he  had  brought 
in  a  little  jag  of  farm  truck  to  sell  to  pay  the  bill.  He  walked  back  and 
forth  with  his  head  down  for  some  time  without  saying  a  word.  Finally,  he 
exclaimed:  "One  thousand  dollars!"  "Yes,"  said  Mr.  Stanton;  "do  you  think 
I  would  argue  the  wrong  side  for  you  for  less?" 

He  was  the  best  and  kindest  friend  I  ever  had  and  the  best  man  who 
ever  lived  in  Steubenville.  If  every  person,  living  and  dead,  who  was  ever 
aided  and  befriended,  or  defended  without  fee  by  Mr.  Stanton,  were  to 
rise  up  and  make  a  procession  in  his  honor,  it  would  be  long  indeed,  and 
the  character  of  those  in  it  would  astonish  the  world.  God  bless  him,  God 
bless  him  forever! 


CHAPTER  X. 
IN  PITTSBURG— WHEELING  BRIDGE  CASE. 

Having  arranged  a  partnership  with  Charles  Shaler  in  the 
thriving  city  of  Pittsburg,  Stanton  began,  about  the  middle  of  1847 
to  devote  much  of  his  time  to  his  Eastern  business.  He  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  of  Allegheny  County  on  October  30,  1847,  and  the 
firm  opened  offices  on  the  ground  floor  of  their  own  building  on 
Fourth  Avenue,  near  Wood  Street.  His  qualities  were  already 
known  in  Pittsburg,  and  he  sprang  at  once  into  a  lucrative  practise. 
However,  appearing  for  the  so-called  "Cotton  Kings"  in  the  liti- 
gation which  grew  out  of  the  famous  ten-hour  law  of  1848,  he  earned 
a  large  share  of  momentary  hatred.  The  principal  employers  of 
Pittsburg,  many  of  whom  were  his  clients,  were  arrayed  against 
the  act,  while  the  Pittsburg  Post  was  aggressive  in  sustaining  it  and 
denouncing  the  "Cotton  Kings."  Stanton,  in  order  to  counteract  the 
influence  of  the  Post,  wrote  a  series  of  opposing  articles  which  were 
published  anonymously  in  the  Commercial  Journal.  At  last,  in  July, 
1848,  the  trouble  culminated  in  a  riot  and  then  went  into  the  courts. 

During  the  trial  he  took  exceptions  to  the  ruling  of  the  Court 
and  presented  a  charge  to  be  given  to  the  jury.  The  judge  silently 
read  the  instructions  and  looked  inquiringly  over  the  paper  at  Stan- 
ton, who  exclaimed :  "I  demand  that  those  instructions  be  read  to 
the  jury."  The  Court  withdrew  the  instructions  already  given,  or- 
dered the  jury  to  be  kept  together  until  morning  and  then  in- 
structed them  according  to  Stanton's  request.  His  bold  and  decided 
manner  had  its  effect ;  but  many  marveled  that  the  judge  did  not 
fine  him  for  contempt. 

In  1848  he  actively  supported  Martin  Van  Buren,  the  Free-Soil 
candidate  for  president,  as  against  Lewis  Cass,  the  regular  Demo- 
cratic nominee,  whose  bank  notions  he  abhorred.  As  his  large  and 
wealthy  clientage  was  almost  unanimously  Whig,  he  was  charged 
with  really  working  and  voting  for  Taylor*  although  pretending  to 

*Says  Lecky  Harper,  at  that  time  editor  of  the  Pittsburg  Post,  organ  of 


54  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

support  Van  Buren.  While  the  campaign  was  at  its  height,  he  ad- 
dressed a  Van  Buren  meeting  in  Stcubenville.  The  Democracy  came 
out  in  full  force  to  hear  what  he  had  to  say.  His  arraignment  of  Cass 
and  the  Democratic  platform  was  relentless.  The  old-line  Demo- 
crats in  the  audience,  exasperated  at  the  change  in  their  dashing 
leader  of  1840,  withdrew  and  held  an  indignation  meeting  on  the 
court-house  steps,  at  which  Stanton  was  roundly  denounced.  In- 
stead of  being  disconcerted,  he  was  rendered  more  vehement  by  this 
demonstration,  and  poured  a  scathing  fire  vipon  the  leaders  of  the 
local  Democracy,  and  had  the  satisfaction,  a  few  days  later,  of  seeing 
Cass  defeated. 

The  firm  of  Shaler  and  Stanton  had  not  been  long  in  business 
before  the  necessity  of  a  trained  and  careful  office  lawyer  developed. 
"As  neither  Shaler  nor  Stanton  had  an  aptitude  for  keeping  ac- 
counts," says  Robert  T.  Hunt,  who  was  in  their  office  for  some 
years,  "Theobald  Umbstaetter,  Stanton's  Ohio  partner,  was  brought 
to  take  care  of  the  office  business.  Before  that  Shaler  drew  his 
checks  and  posted  his  share  of  the  books  in  black  while  Stanton 
used  red  ink ;  and  that  is  the  way  they  kept  track  of  things." 

"Shaler  and  Stanton  received  great  fees,"  says  Major  C.  Shaler 
of  Washington,  D.  C.  "I  remember  that  they  received  for  just 
one  opinion  ten  thousand  dollars.  They  earned  a  great  deal,  but  be- 
fore the  coming  of  Judge  Umbstaetter,  saved  very  little  of  it." 

During  July,  1849,  Stanton  began  a  suit  which  gave  him  lasting 
fame — that  of  "The  State  of  Pennsylvania  vs.  the  Wheeling  and 
Belmont  Bridge  Company  and  others."  The  corporation  named 
began  the  erection  of  a  suspension  bridge  over  the  Ohio  River  at 
Wheeling,  Virginia,  in  1847.  The  structure,  the  longest  of  its  kind 
in  the  world,  the  central  span  being  one  thousand  feet  in  length,  the 
cables  of  which  were  hauled  over  the  great  towers  and  from  shore  to 
shore  by  platoons  of  oxen,  obstructed  the  navigation  of  the  river. 
The  chimneys  of  the  larger  packets  were  unable  to  pass  under  it. 


the  Democratic  party:  "Although  known  as  a  Democrat,  I  really  never  took 
serious  stock  in  Mr.  Stanton's  Democracy.  He  was  more  of  a  student  than 
a  politician  anyway;  and  after  his  professional  reputation  became  strong, 
took  no  interest  in  partisan  controversies,  except  as  they  involved  his 
friends  or  clients.  Law,  law,  law  was  his  god,  his  mistress,  and  there  he 
never  ceased  to  worship.  He  always  was  opposed  to  slavery  extension 
and  to  slavery  itself,  and  I,  who  knew  him  all  his  life,  never  thought  that 
he  was  ever  really  a  Democrat,  though  at  times  an  apparently  vehement 
Democratic  partisan." 


IN  PITTSBURG— WHEELING  BRIDGE  CASE  55 

Some  of  the  owners  and  commanders  of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty 
packets  then  plying  those  waters  were  already  Stanton's  clients,  and 
applied  to  him  for  relief.  The  questions  involved  were  in  many  re- 
spects new  and  certainly  important,  affecting  the  enormous  com- 
merce of  the  river  and  the  prosperity  and  development  of  numerous 
cities. 

For  some  time  he  revolved  the  case  in  his  mind,  and  while  thus 
engaged,  in  order  to  strengthen  the  basis  for  what  he  at  last  pro- 
posed to  do,  boarded  the  steamer  Hibernia  No.  2,  with  numerous 
competent  witnesses,  and  ordered  the  commander  to  proceed  down 
the  river.  He  well  knew  that  the  steamer — one  of  the  finest  and 
costliest  on  the  Ohio — could  not  pass  under  the  bridge,  neverthe- 
less he  commanded  Captain  Charles  W.  Batcheler*  to  proceed  at 
full  speed  in  the  usual  channel  between  the  piers.  The  tall  chimneys, 
extending  nearly  eighty  feet  above  the  water,  were  carried  away, 
and  the  upper  works  of  the  packet  demolished — as  expected.  Thus 
reinforced,  he  began  suit  against  the  stockholders  of  the  bridge 
company  for  damages  and  secured  the  consent  of  Pennsylvania  to 
employ  her  sovereignty  in  a  suit  to  abate  the  bridge  as  a  public 
nuisance — a  bar,  hindrance,  and  obstruction  to  free  commerce  be- 
tween the  several  States  on  navigable  water  and  a  damage  to  the 
general  welfare. 

On  July  20,  1849,  Associate-Justice  Grier,  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  referred  a  motion  for  an  alternative  writ  to  com- 
pel the  bridge  company  to  abate  their  structure  or  show  cause  why 
it  should  not  be  abated  as  a  public  nuisance,  to  the  full  bench  to  be 
heard  at  the  ensuing  December  term.     Stanton  was  elated,  brother 


*Says  Captain  Batcheler:  "Often  Stanton  came  on  board  my  boat  and 
went  to  Wheeling  to  witness  the  entire  operation  of  making  the  journey, 
lowering  the  chimneys,  etc.  River  boats  were  then,  as  they  have  been 
ever  since,  annoyed  by  the  collection  of  wharfage  at  all  the  towns  along 
the  river;  and  frequently  the  wharfage  was  more  than  the  business  for 
which  the  boats  landed.  On  one  of  his  trips  he  said:  'Charlie,  why  don't 
you  quit  paying  wharfage  at  these  places?  They  have  no  right  to  collect  it. 
If  the  boats  will  give  me  two  thousand  dollars  I  will  agree  to  rid  them 
of  that  wharfage.'  The  result  was  that  we  quit  paying  wharfage  at  Wells- 
ville,  and  they  sued  us.  Stanton  filed  an  answer  contending  that  the  collec- 
tion of  wharfage  from  a  boat  passing  from  one  State  into  another  was  a 
tax  upon  commerce  between  the  States  and  a  violation  of  the  constitution. 
The  authorities  did  not  dare  to  contend  against  him,  and  our  boats  never 
afterwards  paid  wharfage  at  Wellsville." 


66  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

attorneys  having  predicted  that  the  motion  would  not  be  enter- 
tained. 

While  preparing  for  the  hearing  he  made  a  scientific  examina- 
tion of  combustion  under  all  possible  circumstances — with  large  and 
small  furnaces ;  strong  and  light  draft ;  wood  and  coal  mixed  and 
wood  and  coal  alone  for  fuel  and  with  high  and  low  chimneys  for 
each  class  of  fuel,  experimenting  upon  boats  of  different  sizes  and 
construction,  always  with  witnesses  on  board  in  the  persons  of 
men  of  well-known  reputation  and  skill  in  physical  sciences.  He  also 
visited  the  towns  along  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  the  com- 
merce of  which  was  in  any  way  affected ;  gathered  statistics  of  the 
volume  and  value  of  the  inland  commerce  of  the  Mississippi  Valley 
for  thirty  years,  and  collected  a  mass  of  documents  showing  the  rel- 
ative cost  of  railway  and  water  transportation,  so  that  he  might  con- 
clusively prove  the  wide-spread  injury  inflicted  by  obstructing  the 
free  navigation  of  the  Ohio  River  and  its  tributaries. 

While  interviewing  pilots  at  the  Pittsburg  wharves,  he  fell 
into  the  hold  of  the  Isaac  Newton,  and  suffered  a  compound  fracture 
of  the  knee,  an  injury  which  compelled  him  to  walk  with  a  hitch 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  taken  to  Steubenville  on 
the  next  steamer  and  transferred  to  his  house  on  a  stretcher,  where, 
under  the  care  of  Dr.  Tappan,  he  lay  practically  helpless  for  weeks. 
Nevertheless,  having  attendants  to  handle  books  and  documents,  he 
continued  to  study  and  prepare  his  cases,  attend  to  correspondence, 
and  send  out  papers  for  service,  so  that  the  bridge  suit  suffered  no 
delay.  The  Reverend  George  Buchanan,  calling  upon  him  at  this 
time,  found  him  propped  up  in  bed,  surrounded  by  law  books  and 
legal  documents.  "This  is  a  lucky  accident,"  observed  Stanton  to 
his  pastor,  "for  I  shall  be  a  good  lawyer  by  the  time  I  get  well." 

Judge  Benjamin  Patton  of  Hicksville,  Ohio,  has  several  letters 
written  while  Stanton  was  thus  confined,  one  of  which  is  as  follows : 

Steubenville,  Dec.  11,  1849. 
Dear  Sir: 

Pain  and  the  inconvenience  of  wrriting  in  the  only  position  I  am  allowed 
to  occupy  (the  broad  of  my  back)  have  prevented  my  acknowledging  your 
favor,  and  expressing  how  much  your  letter  delighted  me. 

The  pleasure  of  your  society  and  the  tokens  of  friendship  and  con- 
fidence I  receive  at  your  hands,  are  esteemed  among  the  most  valuable 
consequences  of  my  residence  at  Pittsburg,  to  merit  and  retain  which  will 
always  be  an  earnest  desire  in  my  heart. 

I  trust  we  shall  be  able  to  go  East  together,  and  we  can  be  in  Wash- 


IN  PITTSBURG— WHEELING  BRIDGE  CASE  57 

ington  about  the  most  interesting  period  of  the  season.  I  hope  you  keep 
Shaler  [Stanton's  partner]  in  good  spirits.  The  old  gentleman  has  a  hard 
time  with  his  partners,  who  seem  to  be  perpetually  getting  him  into  some 
scrape  or  other. 

As  to  the  ladies  to  whom  you  so  kindly  offer  to  bear  my  messages,  I 
do  not  know  that  I  can  do  better  than  to  give  you  carte  blanche.  As  the 
present  is  the  first  period  of  leisure  I  have  had  for  some  years,  it  may  be 
as  well  that  I  am  not  able  to  expose  myself  to  the  influence  of  their  charms; 
but  I  will  stand  up  to  whatever  you  may  say  in  that  behalf,  feeling  as- 
sured that  with  you  for  my  attorney  I  shall  appear  better  than  in  person, 
and  have  a  better  plea  entered  than  I  could  put  in  for  myself. 

Let  me  repeat  my  desire  to  hear  often  from  you,  and  believe  me  to  be, 
Ever  most  faithfully  your  friend. 
The  Honorable  B.  Patton.  E.  M.  Stanton. 

On  February  25,  1850,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  on  motion  of  Reverdy  Johnson  and  made 
his  first  argument  in  the  bridge  case  before  the  full  bench. 

The  owners  of  the  bridge  contended  that  the  Court  had  no 
jurisdiction.  Labored  and  exhaustive  arguments  followed,  involv- 
ing constitutional  points  and  questions  of  practise  in  equity.  Chief 
Justice  Taney  and  Justices  Wayne  and  Curtis  personally  thanked 
Stanton  for  the  learning  and  acceptable  array  of  new  facts  brought 
before  them ;  and  held  that  they  had  jurisdiction.  The  entire  case 
was,  on  May  29,  1850,  referred  to  Chancellor  Walworth  of  New 
York.  On  February  6,  1851,  he  made  a  voluminous  report,  holding 
that  the  bridge  was  an  unwarranted  and  unlawful  obstruction  to 
navigation,  and  that  it  must  be  either  removed  or  raised  so  as  to 
permit  the  free  and  usual  passage  of  boats. 

At  the  December  term,  1851,  the  report  was  affirmed,  after 
long  argument,  the  Court  holding  that  it  had  full  jurisdiction,  and 
in  May,  1852,  (Chief  Justice  Taney  and  Justice  Daniel  dissenting), 
rendered  final  judgment  on  the  merits  of  the  case  in  favor  of  Stanton 
with  costs,  requiring  the  bridge  to  be  elevated  to  the  height  of  one 
hundred  and  eleven  feet  level  headway  over  the  channel  of  the  river, 
and  "that  the  same  shall  be  removed  by  the  respondents,  or  so 
altered  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  February,  1853." 

After  the  Supreme  Court  had  assumed  jurisdiction,  but  before 
it  had  entered  this  decree.  Congress  was  appealed  to  by  the  bridge 
company  for  relief,  which  was  granted  in  the  form  of  an  act  passed 
August  31,  1852,  declaring  the  Wheeling  suspension  bridge  a  post 
route  and  a  lawful  structure  as  it  then  stood,  thus  revising  and  an- 
nulling the  solemn  judgment  of  the  highest  court  in  the  Republic ! 


6S  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

The  contest  before  Congress  and  its  committees  was  conducted 
with  great  abiHty  for  several  months.  The  majority  report  of  the 
House  Committee  on  Post  Roads  is  said  to  have  been  prepared  by 
Reverdy  Johnson,  and  the  "views  of  the  minority,"  protesting 
against  Congress  reversing  and  annulling  a  judgment  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court,  was  written  by  Stanton.  The  majority  re^ 
port  took  the  ground  that  it  was  better  to  regulate  the  size  of  boats 
and  the  height  of  their  chimneys  and  upper  works  than  to  regulate 
obstructions  to  national  commerce  upon  navigable  waters !  Also 
that  the  "development  of  the  wonderful  power  of  steam"  was  reason 
for  reversing  the  final  judgments  of  the  nation's  highest  court !  Stan- 
ton's minority  report  declared  that  nothing  but  chaos  could  result 
from  following  such  a  precedent;  that  a  reversal  of  the  decree  of  the 
Supreme  Court  in  one  case  in  favor  of  a  private  corporation  might 
be  followed  by  others  of  like  nature,  and  then  the  Government 
would  be  disrupted.  In  answer  to  the  enunciation  of  the  majority 
report  that  the  "development  of  the  mighty  power  of  steam"  was 
a  sufficient  warrant  for  Congress  to  step  in  and  upset  a  formal 
judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court,  he  said  that  "if  such  a  doctrine  has 
been  developed  by  the  mighty  power  of  steam,  it  were  better  that 
that  power  had  remained  unknown."  The  real  point  at  issue 
throughout  the  case  before  Congress  was  whether  the  United  States 
or  a  given  one  of  the  States  was  sovereign. 

Beginning  in  1816,  charters  for  a  bridge  over  the  Ohio  River 
at  Wheeling  had  been  granted  by  Ohio  or  Virginia  or  both,  and 
many  other  charters  for  structures  over  that  stream  had  been 
granted  by  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  and  Illinois ;  but  every  one, 
including  that  under  which  the  Wheeling  bridge  itself  was  erected, 
contained  an  express  clause  that  nothing  therein  contained  should 
be  construed  to  authorize  a  structure  which  should  "obstruct  the 
free  and  common  navigation  of  said  stream."  But  the  bridge  was 
up  and  did  "obstruct  the  free  and  common  navigation"  of  the. 
stream,  so  the  legislature  of  Virginia  passed  another  law — after 
the  Federal  court  had  assumed  jurisdiction  of  the  case — declaring 
that  the  "said  wire  suspension  bridge  erected  across  the  Ohio  River 
at  Wheeling,  as  aforesaid,  be  and  the  same  is  declared  to  be  of  law- 
ful height." 

Thus,  a  structure  erected  in  violation  of  the  repeated  statutes 
of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  Tennessee,  Missouri,  Illinois,  and 
Virginia  herself,  and  therefore  unlawful,  was  declared,  by  a  peculiar 


Ralph  Emerson. 


John  H.  Manny. 


IN  PITTSBURG— WHEELING  BRIDGE  CASE  69 

enactment  of  Virginia  in  1850 — an  ex  post  facto  act — to  be  lawful ! 
This  act  of  1850  was  the  base  on  which  the  majority  of  Congress, 
representing  the  State  sovereignty  theory,  claimed  to  stand  while 
overturning  the  judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Against  the  notion  that  a  State  is  greater  than  the  United 
States,  Stanton  contended  with  abhorrence,  saying  that  "to  deter- 
mine by  peaceful  judgment"  whether  the  rights  of  and  compacts  be- 
tween the  States  "had  been  violated  or  not,  and  to  administer  the 
proper  remedy,  was  the  main  purpose  of  establishing  the  Supreme 
Court.  No  feature  in  our  Government  has  more  commended  itself 
to  the  approval  of  mankind,"  and  "it's  decrees  ought  not  to  be  vio- 
lently reversed." 

But  a  majority  of  Congress  was  the  other  way  of  thinking;  the 
bill  passed  and  the  bridge  was  allowed  to  stand  and  its  successor* 
is  standing  at  the  original  height,  to  this  day,  compelling  all  large 
boats  passing  under  it  to  lower  their  chimneys. 

Stanton,  however,  through  his  powerful  efforts  and  immense 
learning,  established  a  reputation  that  was  ever  after  of  value  to 
him,  as  well  as  the  right  of  Congress  to  regulate  interstate  com- 
merce in  every  possible  form.  The  theories  of  court  jurisdiction 
and  Federal  sovereignty  which  he  first  enunciated  in  this  case, 
are  now  cardinal  principles  of  national  law. 


*While  this  great  suit  was  pending  a  hurricane  destroyed  the  Wheeling 
bridge.  Calling  the  attention  of  the  Court  to  this  fact  and  asking  for  an  in- 
junction (which,  in  view  of  the  action  of  Congress  was  denied)  to  prevent 
its  reconstruction,  Stanton  observed  cynically:  "Your  Honors  can  now 
see  what  Providence  thinks  of  this  bridge  by  what  He  has  done  to  it!" 


CHAPTER  XL 
OTHER  IMPORTANT  LITIGATION— MEETS  LINCOLN. 

In  early  days  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  built,  owned,  and 
managed  canals,  aqueducts,  and  railways.  Out  of  this  ownership 
grew  litigation.  The  Pennsylvania  Railway  Company  sued  the 
Pennsylvania  State  canal  commissioners  to  compel  them  to  haul 
complainant's  cars  over  and  on  the  State  road  known  as  the  Phila- 
delphia and  Columbia  Railway.  Stanton,  for  the  commissioners, 
resisted  the  suit  and  was  victorious  before  the  supreme  court,  of 
which  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  who  delivered  the  opinion  (in  December, 
1852),  was  chief  justice.  Stanton's  definition,  during  the  trial  of 
this  case,  of  the  rights  and  limitations  of  public  corporations  as 
the  mere  trustees  of  delegated  portions  of  the  general  sovereignty, 
and  his  measurement  of  the  undeveloped  or  reserved  powers  of  the 
people  to  control  corporations  under  a  Republican  form  of  govern- 
ment, caused  Judge  Black  to  describe  him  as  the  greatest  lawyer 
of  the  time  and,  years  afterward  when  a  member  of  Buchanan's 
cabinet,  to  choose  him  to  defend  the  Government  in  the  famous 
California  cases,  referred  to  further  on. 

A  case  involving  important  and  novel  points,  growing  out  of 
what  was  popularly  known  as  the  "Erie  Railroad  War,"  brought 
large  fees  and  increased  reputation  to  Stanton.  That  part  of  the 
present  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Railroad  lying  east  of 
Erie,  Pennsylvania,  was  in  1852  broad-gauge — 6  feet — while  that 
part  extending  west  was  the  "Ohio  gauge" — 4  feet,  10  inches.  The 
break  where  the  lines  met  necessitated  an  annoying  and  costly  trans- 
fer of  passengers  and  freight.  In  the  fall  of  1853  the  Erie  and  North- 
east Railroad  determined  to  change  its  gauge  to  4  feet  and  10  inches, 
thereby  making  the  gauge  uniform  from  Cleveland  to  Buffalo. 

The  authorities  of  the  city  of  Erie  resisted  the  change  and 
by  ordinance  declared  that  a  railroad  of  any  other  gauge  than 
six  feet  was  a  public  nuisance  and  must  be  removed.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1853,  the  railroad  company  changed  the  gauge  as  contemplated 


OTHER  IMPORTANT  LITIGATION— MEETS  LINCOLN         61 

and  the  city  tore  up  the  tracks  and  destroyed  the  bridges  wherever 
they  occupied  public  streets.  The  company  relaid  the  tracks  and 
the  city  again  took  them  up.  Thus  commenced  the  "Erie  Railroad 
War,"  which  continued  until  1856,  the  supreme  court  of  Pennsyl- 
vania deciding  against  the  railroad  company  and  holding  that  its 
charter  was  forfeited  to  the  State. 

In  pursuance  of  this  decision  the  legislature  passed  an  act  de- 
claring the  railroad  franchises  forfeited  and  directing  the  governor 
to  take  charge  of  the  lines  in  behalf  of  the  State.  This  he  attempted 
to  do,  but  never  secured  possession  of  roads  or  rolling  stock.  Ques- 
tions relating  to  agreements  of  the  Pennsylvania  roads  with  con- 
necting lines  in  other  States,  contracts  to  carry  United  States  mails, 
and  the  fact  that  the  rolling  stock  used  in  Pennsylvania  was  owned 
in  other  States,  were  brought  out  skilfully  by  Stanton,  and  were 
found  to  be  difficult  to  meet.  He  also  prepared  to  apply  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  for  a  writ  to  prevent  the  of- 
ficials of  Pennsylvania  from  executing  laws  "impairing  the  obli- 
gation of  a  contract."  The  State  authorities  could  not  resist  such 
a  process,  and  granted  satisfactory  new  charters  to  the  companies. 
Stanton  thus  gained  a  complete  victory  and  a  practical  knowledge 
of  railroads  and  railroad  law  that  was  of  great  value  to  himself  and 
to  the  nation,  while,  subsequently,  he  was  secretary  of  war. 

Dr.  Benjamin  Tappan  married  Oella,  Stanton's  eldest  sister,  at 
Steubenville.  He  was  a  man  of  genius,  widely  traveled  and  well 
educated,  but  of  some  eccentricities.  In  1854,  these  eccentricities 
not  having  disappeared,  Mrs.  Tappan  felt  compelled  to  apply  for 
a  divorce. 

"Stanton  had  employed  the  brilliant  Roderick  S.  Moodey  to  try 
the  suit,"  says  E.  F.  Andrews,  instructor  in  the  Corcoran  Institute 
of  Art  at  Washington,  "he  himself  assisting  as  counsel  advisory. 
Attorney-General  Morton  was  counsel  for  the  defendant,  an  ex- 
citable man  and  very  quick — too  quick  this  time.  Stanton  had. 
previously  told  Moodey  to  ask  him  on  the  stand  if  his  sister  had  not 
lost  four  of  her  front  teeth.  'Yes,  sir,  she  has,'  hissed  Stanton. 
'Do  you  know  how  she  lost  them?'  'She  once  told  me,  sir,  how  she 
lost  them.  She '  Morton  was  on  his  feet  in  an  instant  protest- 
ing against  heresay  evidence,  and  succeeded  in  stopping  the  answer ; 
but  of  course  the  impression,  indelible,  had  been  made  on  the  jury 
that  the  doctor  had  knocked  the  four  teeth  out.  The  truth  was, 
however,  that  she  lost  them  in  due  course  of  nature.     No  ruling 


62  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

could  ever  efface  the  impression  made  by  this  question  and  the  sup- 
pression of  the  answer,  and  no  one  knew  that  fact  better  than  Stan- 
ton.   He  also  knew,  as  a  lawyer,  that  Morton  would  stop  the  answer. 

The  suit  ended  in  a  decree  of  divorce  and  a  judgment  of  fifty 
thousand  dollars. 

Late  in  1854  Stanton  was  engaged  to  defend  a  suit  that  de- 
veloped into  a  battle  of  giants.  Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  a  Virginian, 
invented,  patented,  and  built  a  machine  for  reaping  grain  which  be- 
came a  great  success.  He  erected  the  first  successful  machine  in  a 
blacksmith  shop  on  his  father's  plantation  in  Rockbridge  County, 
Virginia,  and  operated  it  in  the  presence  of  many  witnesses  in  the 
summer  of  1831.  About  twenty  years  later  John  H.  Manny  of  Wis- 
consin produced  a  successful  apparatus  for  harvesting  grain,  and, 
having  secured  twenty-three  letters-patent  thereon,  turned  out  four 
hundred  machines.  McCormick,  in  November,  1854,  brought 
suit  in  the  United  States  court  to  prevent  the  manufacture,  sale, 
and  use  of  the  Manny  reaper  and  mower  as  an  infringement  upon 
patents  taken  out  by  him  in  1847.  The  first  hearing  was  set  for 
September,  1855,  at  Cincinnati. 

The  rich  wheat  empire  of  the  West  was  developing  apace ;  a 
horse-reaper  was  the  most  popular  if  not  the  most  important  inven- 
tion of  the  day ;  the  demand  for  reapers  and  mowers  was  unlimited, 
and,  as  there  was  a  liberal  profit  in  their  manufacture,  fortunes 
were  at  stake.  Ralph  Emerson  of  Rockford,  a  survivor  of  that 
memorable  contest,  furnishes  some  interesting  facts  concerning 
Stanton's  connection  with  it,  and  throws  new  light  upon  the  doings 
of  Abraham  Lincoln : 

There  were  something  over  a  dozen  lawyers  connected  with  the  case. 
P.  H.  Watson  of  Washington,  George  Harding  of  Philadelphia,  and  Edwin 
M.  Stanton  of  Pittsburg  were  the  leading  counsel  on  our  side;  and  Reverdy 
Johnson  and  E.  N.  Dickerson  on  the  other.  As  the  case  increased  in  import- 
ance we  concluded  to  have  three  lawyers  appear  prominently  in  it,  there- 
fore retained  Abraham  Lincoln.  Such  a  thing  as  paying  a  large  retainer  fee 
was,  at  that  time,  a  strange  thing  in  the  West,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  said  the 
fee  ($1,000)  we  paid  him  was  the  largest  he  ever  received. 

When  the  case  came  on  for  hearing  at  Cincinnati  it  was  decided  to 
have  only  two  lawyers  speak  on  a  side;  and  Stanton  and  Harding,  having 
devoted  so  much  time  to  the  matter,  were  selected,  an  arrangement  in  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  concurred.  He  remained,  however,  through  the  argument,  which 
covered  nearly  two  weeks. 

Mr.  Stanton  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the  law  and  his  argument 
excited  the  admiration  of  all  who  heard  it.     At  times  the   Court  regarded 


OTHER  IMPORTANT  LITIGATION— MEETS  LINCOLN  63 

him  in  amazement,  so  extraordinary  were  his  memory  and  power  of  analy- 
sis. Mr.  Lincoln  (apparently  forgetting  the  presence  of  the  Court)  stood 
throughout  Stanton's  entire  argument,  occasionally  very  near  him,  drinking 
in  his  words,  and  then  walking  back  and  forth  in  the  back  part  of  the  room, 
closely  observing  the  speaker  all  the  time,  wrapt  in  admiration.  As  Stanton 
closed  and  we  left  the  room,  Lincoln  invited  me  to  take  a  walk  with  him, 
which  lasted  some  hours.  After  a  considerable  silence,  he  said:  "Emerson, 
it  would  have  been  a  great  mistake  if  I  had  spoken  in  this  case;  I  did  not 
fully  understand  it." 

Another  long  silence  as  we  walked  on,  and  again:  "Emerson,  I  am 
going  home  to  study — to  study  law.  You  know  that  for  any  rough-and- 
tumble  case  (and  a  pretty  good  one,  too)  I  am  enough  for  any  man  we  have 
out  in  that  country;  but  these  college-trained  men  are  coming  West.  They 
have  had  all  the  advantages  of  a  life-long  training  in  the  law,  plenty  of 
time  to  study  and  everything,  perhaps,  to  fit  them.  Soon  they  will  be  in 
Illinois,  and  I  must  meet  them.  I  am  just  going  home  to  study  law,  and 
when  they  appear  I  will  be  ready." 

Stanton  was  present  when  we  were  consulting  about  the  advisability 
of  a  compromise.  It  nettled  him  severely.  "Will  they  yield  all  you  want?" 
he  asked.  "No."  "Then,"  he  exclaimed,  "I  know  but  one  way  to  compro- 
mise, and  that  is  with  sword  in  hand" — suiting  the  action  to  the  word, 
raising  his  hand  on  high  and  shouting  as  though  in  battle — "to  smite  and 
keep  smiting." 

His  lion-like  advice  prevailed  and  we  never  regretted  it.  The  fees 
paid  were  very  large  for  that  time.  I  cannot  give  the  amount.  I  think  Mr. 
Stanton  received  $10,000  and  his  expenses,  but  he  earned  the  money. 

Judges  ^McLean  and  Drummond  filed  their  decree  in  March, 
1856,  holding  in  favor  of  Stanton's  clients.  An  appeal  was  taken 
by  McCormick  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
case  became  an  issue  in  politics  (involving  the  appointment  of  a 
commissioner  of  patents)  and  a  bone  of  contention  in  Congress. 
For  several  years  the  struggle  continued  a  battle  royal,  nothing  be- 
ing left  imdone  which  the  power  of  money  and  the  genius  of  the 
ablest  attorneys  in  the  land  could  invent. 

The  case  really  turned  on  the  priority  of  inventing  the  divider. 
No  reaper,  however  perfect  otherwise,  could  operate  successfully 
without  a  divider  at  the  outer  end  of  the  cutter-bar  to  separate  the 
standing  from  the  falling  grain  as  the  machine  moved  forward. 
Without  that  every  machine  became  entangled  and  choked  and  a 
failure. 

Colonel  William  P.  Wood  of  Washington,  an  expert  who  made 
all  of  Manny's  models,  knew  that  fact.  The  Manny  machine  must 
have  a  divider  curved  outward,  but  that  feature  was  covered  by 
McCormick's  patents.    Wood  went  into  Virginia  and  found  (in  the 


61  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

possession  of  R.  Sampson)  an  old  McCormick  reaper,  made  prior 
to  the  issuance  of  McCormick's  patent  on  the  divider.  He  pur- 
chased it  and  made  its  crooked  divider  rod  straight ;  for  a  curved 
Manny  divider  would  not  be  an  infringement  on  a  straight  McCor- 
mick divider.  Using  salt  and  vinegar  to  rust  over  the  fresh  marks 
of  the  blacksmith  who  did  the  work,  he  shipped  the  doctored  reaper 
to  Washington  to  be  used  in  court,  and  it  won  the  case ! 

Wood  says:  "Stanton  never  knew  how  that  old  reaper  which 
appeared  in  Washington  with  a  straight  divider  had  been  doc- 
tored, but  he  knew  beyond  question  that  it  would  defeat  McCor- 
mick, the  real  inventor  of  the  successful  reaping  machine." 

When  the  case  came  up  for  argument  before  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  in  February,  1858,  there  were  so  many  attorneys 
to  speak  that  the  time  was  divided  by  the  Court  in  such  a  way  that 
Stanton  was  given  less  than  an  hour.  He  had  been  speaking  per- 
haps five  minutes  when  the  Court  interrupted  to  inquire  if  the  ad- 
dress was  in  writing.    "It  is  not,"  replied  Stanton. 

"That  is  to  be  regretted,"  answered  Justice  McLean,  requesting 
a  deputy  marshal  to  procure  the  services  of  a  phonographer  at 
once  "to  take  down  Mr.  Stanton's  argument  for  the  use  of  the 
Court." 

As  the  only  phonographic  writers  in  Washington  were  engaged 
in  taking  the  debates  of  Congress,  the  deputy  returned  without  exe- 
cuting the  judge's  orders. 

Twice  as  he  was  rushing  on,  Stanton  leaned  over  and  whis- 
pered to  Mr.  Watson.  One  of  the  justices  inquired  politely  whether 
the  orator  was  in  distress.  "I  am  only  asking  my  associate,  your 
Honors,"  responded  Stanton,  "how  much  more  time  I  have."  "Fin- 
ish your  argument  in  your  own  time,"  quickly  interposed  Chief  Jus- 
tice Taney,  "regardless  of  the  rules  we  have  fixed," — to  which  the 
associate  justices  nodded  approval — an  incident  scarcely  less  note- 
worthy than  that  of  Justice  McLean  leaving  his  seat  to  send  for  a 
phonographic  reporter. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  argument  the  case  was  taken  under 
advisement  and  the  large  collection  of  models  present  moved  over 
to  chambers  on  Four-and-a-half  Street,  where  the  justices  held 
their  consultations  and  made  up  their  judgments.*    The  decision  of 


*Says  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  then  Mr.  Watson's  associate:  "When 
the  beautiful  models  were  moved  over  to  chambers,  Mr.  Watson  gave  $25 
to  the  old  colored  janitor  who  had  charge  of  the  rooms  and  waited  on  the 


Philip  F.  Thomas, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


Jacob  Thompson, 

Secretary  of  hiterior 


John  B.  Floyd, 
Secretary  of  War. 


Isaac  Toucey, 
Secretary  of  the  N^avy. 


Horatio  King, 

Postmaster-  Getieral. 


Members  of  President  Buchanan's  Cabini 


OTHER  IMPORTANT  LITIGATION— MEETS  LINCOLN         65 

the  Court,  written  by  Mr.  Justice  Grier,  was  filed  on  April  22,  follow- 
ing, while  Stanton  was  in  California.  It  sustained  the  Manny  pat- 
ents and  permitted  Manny's  heirs  and  successors  to  continue  manu- 
facturing reapers  thereunder,  in  which  they  built  up  an  enormous 
business  and  realized  great  sums  of  money. 


justices  during  their  consultations,  saying  to  him:  'When  the  justices 
are  examining  these  models  you  must  not  leave  the  room  but  remain  and 
see  that  nothing  happens  to  them,  for  they  are  costly.'  Of  course  the 
old  servant  not  only  w^atched  the  models  but  heard  all  that  the  justices 
said  in  consultation  and  communicated  it  to  Mr.  Watson.  More  than  a 
month  before  the  decision  was  filed  Mr.  McCormick  called  upon  Mr.  Wat- 
son, who  haw-hawed  and  was  vociferously  jolly.  He  already  knew,  through 
the  old  janitor,  that  he  had  won,  while  McCormick  and  his  friends  were 
waiting  anxiously  and  ignorantly  for  the  formal  decision  to  be  filed  for 
their  information.  Manny  had  the  two  ablest  managers  in  America  in 
charge  of  his  case — Edwin  M.  Stanton  and  Peter  H.  Watson.  If  they  had 
been  on  the  other  side  McCormick  would  have  won,  as  he  deserved,  for  he 
certainly  was  the  inventor  of  the  first  successful  reaping  machine." 


CHAPTER  XII. 
SECOND  MARRIAGE— CALIFORNIA  LAND  CASES. 

For  more  than  ten  years  after  the  death  of  Mary,  his  wife, 
Stanton  eschewed  the  society  of  women.  He  did  indeed  pay  some 
attention  in  Steubenville  to  a  woman  of  fine  manners  and  accom- 
plishments who  subsequently  became  the  wife  of  Dr.  John  C. 
Zachos,  curator  of  Cooper  Union,  New  York,  and  was  an  admirer 
also  of  Jean  Davenport,  the  actress ;  but  as  law  was  his  business 
and  its  practise  his  courtship,  nothing  came  of  these  admirations. 

However,  in  the  family  of  Lewis  Hutchison,  a  man  of  wealth 
and  prominence  and  one  of  Stanton's  clients  in  Pittsburg,  were  two 
handsome  daughters.  One  of  them.  Miss  Ellen,  a  woman  of  queenly 
manners,  statuesque  figure,  and  classically  beautiful  face,  made  a 
profound  impression  upon  Stanton  at  their  first  meeting.  This 
impression  drew  him  to  the  position  of  suitor,  and  in  due  time  re- 
sulted in  marriage. 

"I  never  can  forget  when,  in  the  early  summer  of  1856,"  says 
his  faithful  gardener,  Alfred  Taylor,  "Mr.  Stanton  came  to  Steuben- 
ville from  Pittsburg  to  arrange  for  his  approaching  second  mar- 
riage. He  went  to  two  chests  in  the  upper  part  of  the  house  and 
got  out  a  large  number  of  letters  written  to  him  by  Mary,  his  dead 
wife,  before  and  after  their  marriage.  He  arranged  them  in  a  neat 
pile  in  the  grate,  saying  he  was  'required'  to  burn  them.  'But  I 
cannot  do  it,  Alfred,'  he  said,  his  voice  trembling  and  tears  stream- 
ing down  his  cheeks ;  'you  light  them  for  me,  please.' 

"So  I  put  the  match  to  the  bundle,  but  they  burned  slowly,  as 
if  pleading  to  live.  The  progress  of  the  flames  was  very  painful 
to  him,  and  as  the  dear  messages  melted  away  he  walked  back  and 
forth  wringing  his  hands  and  weeping.  It  was  sorrowful,  very  sor- 
rowful, and  I  turned  my  back  so  Mr.  Stanton  could  not  see  that  I, 
too,  was  crying." 

The  marriage  was  solemnized  by  Dr.  Theodore  Lyman,  rector 
of  Trinity  Episcopal  Church,  in  the  house  of  the  bride's  father,  on 


SECOND  MARRIAGE— CALIFORNIA  LAND  CASES  67 

June  25,  1856 — a  quiet  and  thoroughly  enjoyable  home  wedding. 
The  bride  (born  September  24,  1830)  was  not  quite  twenty-six  and 
the  groom  not  forty-two  years  of  age.  After  a  few  weeks  of  travel, 
Mr.  and  }.Irs.  Stanton  leased  and  elegantly  furnished  a  house  in 
Washington,  on  C  Street,  N.  W.,  near  the  Metropolitan  M.  E. 
Church. 

Brother  attorneys  pointed  out  that  this  house  was  but  a  few 
yards  from  the  consultation  chambers  of  the  justices  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court.  That  was  the  fact,  and  frequently  the  jus- 
tices were  entertained  therein  at  dinner  or  as  agreeable  social 
callers. 

There  were  strong  reasons  for  the  removal  to  Washington. 
His  chief  retainers  grew  out  of  matters  requiring  frequent  ap- 
pearance before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  and  the  nomina- 
tion of  James  Buchanan,  a  Pennsylvanian  and  a  personal  friend,  re- 
newed Stanton's  interest  in  the  Democratic  party,  from  which  he 
had  been  estranged  for  some  years.  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  as  soon  as 
the  nomination  of  Buchanan  had  been  accomplished,  urged  him 
to  take  an  open  part  in  the  Democratic  campaign.  This  advice  was 
followed,  and,  on  March  4,  1857,  when  the  Buchanan  administration 
was  installed,  Stanton  found  himself  on  intimate  terms  with  it  and 
Attorney-General  Black  turning  important  public  business  into  his 
hands.  The  greatest  of  these  matters  is  called  the  California  Private 
Land  Claims,  which  grew  out  of  the  partition  of  Mexico  by  the 
treaty  of  1848,  and  the  annexation  of  the  Pacific  Coast  territory  to 
the  United  States.  They  numbered  over  eight  hundred  and  covered 
over  twenty  thousand  square  miles  of  land. 

In  1851  Congress  enacted  a  law  providing  for  a  commission 
to  hear  and  determine  the  claims  of  those  holding  real  or  pretended 
grants  from  Mexico,  with  the  right  of  appeal  by  either  party  to  the 
Federal  courts.  Under  this  law  claimants  began  a  grand  system  of 
forgery  and  perjury  for  the  robbery  of  the  Government,  enlisting 
an  abundance  of  capital  and  the  cooperation  of  many  public  officials. 
Finally,  the  Government  was  startled  by  a  favorable  decision  on 
the  enormous  and  fraudulent  claim  of  Jos6  y  Limantour — "the 
most  stupendous  fraud,"  said  Attorney-General  Black,  "since  the 
beginning  of  the  world."  The  United  States  district  attorney  of 
California — Colonel  Delia  Torre — was  ordered  to  take  an  appeal 
from  the  decision,  and  at  the  same  time  Stanton  was  retained  to 
proceed  to  California  as  "special  counsel  of  the  United  States"  to 


68  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

"do  his  utmost  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  Government." 

With  five  thousand  dollars  as  a  retainer,  accompanied  by  Lieu- 
tenant H.  N.  Harrison  of  the  navy,  James  Buchanan,  jr.  (son  of  the 
Reverend  E.  Y.  Buchanan  of  Philadelphia,  the  President's  only 
brother),  and  his  own  son  Eddie,  Stanton  sailed  from  New  York  in 
the  Star  of  the  West,  a  craft  made  famous  three  years  later  by  receiv- 
ign  the  fire  in  Charleston  harbor  of  the  Confederate  forts  while 
transporting  relief  to  the  Union  soldiers  in  Fort  Sumter.  Crossing 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama  during  the  prevalence  of  a  fever  epidemic, 
he  proceeded  in  a  continuous  storm  on  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  San 
Francisco.  At  this  time  he  was  suffering  severely  with  asthma, 
which  was  rendered  more  acute  by  the  tempestuous  voyage.  In 
his  first  letter  from  the  ocean,  dated  March  2,  on  the  Caribbean  Sea, 
to  Peter  H.  Watson,  he  said  : 

I  have  not  suffered  a  minute  from  seasickness,  nor  has  Eddie.  Almost 
every  one  else  was  sick — some  very  severely.  The  first  few  days  out, 
the  weather  was  very  cold,  rough,  and  disagreeable,  which  brought  on  a 
sharp  attack  of  asthma — the  hardest  I  have  had.  It  lasted  several  days,  but 
is  gradually  disappearing  under  the  genial  influence  of  the  tropics.  If  I 
could  have  been  seasick  I  think  it  would  have  relieved  me,  and  in  this  re- 
spect I  shall  not  experience  one  of  the  benefits  anticipated  from  the  voyage. 

Sunday  we  spent  at  Kingston,  Jamaica,  where  the  ship  takes  on  her 
coal.  The  scenes  at  the  wharf  and  at  the  church — which  were  the  two  points 
of  observation  that  I  selected — afforded  a  strange  and  very  interesting  ex- 
hibition. Here  the  extremes  of  the  Jamaican  social  system  were  encoun- 
tered. 

The  products  of  the  island  have  greatly  diminished  and  the  estates 
grown  ruined  and  neglected  since  the  Emancipation.  The  whites  say  this 
is  owing  to  the  oppressive  exactions  and  burthens  of  the  Government, 
which  destroy  all  hope  of  improvement  and  repress  all  exertion.  I  saw  no 
indication  of  unwillingness  in  the  blacks  to  labor;  but  the  complaints  of 
want  of  work  are  very  great.  I  had  several  applications  by  smart,  active 
fellows  to  go  with  me,  because,  they  said,  they  could  get  no  employment; 
all  our  passengers  had  similar  applications. 

On  tile  10th  he  wrote  again  : 

I  have  finished  writing  out  my  argument*  in  the  reaper  case  [McCor- 
mick  vs.  Manny]  and  on  my  arrival  at  San  Francisco  will  forward  it  to 
you.     The   roughness   of   the   sea  and   the   shaking   of   the   ship    have    pre- 


*Stanton  made  his  great  argument  in  the  reaper  case  before  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  wholly  without  notes  or  references.  Weeks  after- 
ward, P.  H.  Watson  requested  to  be  supplied  with  a  copy  of  it  for  publica- 
tion, and  Stanton,  while  on  the  ocean,  reproduced  it  complete  from  memory. 


SECOND  MARRIAGE— CALIFORNIA  LAND  CASES  69 

vented  its  being  written  as  well  as  I  could  wish,  and  it  has  required  a 
good  deal  of  correction.  I  think,  however,  that  with  proper  care  in  read- 
ing the  proof,  no  material  mistakes  can  occur.  I  have  also  added  a  title 
page,  and  an  explanatory  note. 

In  the  note  I  have  left  a  blank  for  the  date  of  the  opinion  of  the 
Supreme  Court  and  the  judge  by  whom  it  is  delivered.  I  assume  that  it 
will  be  in  our  favor. 

My  health  is  now  very  good.  For  the  last  three  days  I  have  had  no 
symptom  of  my  complaint.  We  are  getting  out  of  the  hot  latitudes.  The 
air  is  delightfully  cool,  bracing,  and  luxurious  to  breathe.  My  chest  and 
lungs  feel  lighter  and  better  than  for  several  months.  Indeed  I  never  was 
in  more  perfect  health  or  enjoyed  life  better  than  for  the  last  two  days. 

On  Friday,  March  19,  he  wrote  : 

The  last  forty-eight  hours  have  been  the  roughest  ever  known  on  this 
coast.  Night  before  last  was  terrific.  The  sea  dashed  over  our  hurricane 
deck,  knocked  in  the  ports,  poured  into  the  staterooms  and  frightened 
everybody  generally. 

On  April  3,  he  wrote  from  San  Francisco : 

My  health  has  been  a  good  deal  improved,  but  it  is  not  entirely  re- 
stored. As  soon  as  I  can  get  leisure  I  shall  go  to  some  of  the  interior 
valleys,  where  I  hope  to  become  quite  well. 

I  spend  about  ten  hours  every  day  in  examining  and  arranging  Spanish 
documents,  letters,  records,  etc.,  in  the  archives  office,  and  as  I  often  have 
to  resort  to  an  interpreter,  the  work  is  slow.  The  results,  however,  are 
more  complete  than  I  hoped  for,  and  the  investigation  already  made  will, 
I  think,  insure  complete  success  in  the  legal  objects  of  my  voyage — however 
it  may  prove  on  the  score  of  health. 

In  his  letter  of  April  18,  he  thus  referred  to  the  Spaniards: 

Everything  about  this  country — its  past,  present,  and  future — is  full 
of  interest.  The  examination  of  its  early  history  as  developed  in  the  State 
papers  and  provincial  records  and  official  correspondence  has  entertained  me 
very  much — especially  the  Spanish  period  extending  back  from  1821  to  1787. 

The  old  Spaniards  were  a  grand  race,  and  their  wonderful  administra- 
tive talent  has  nothing  like  it  at  the  present  day. 

I  am  in  tolerable  health,  but  not  entirely  restored,  having  overtaxed 
myself  a  little  the  past  ten  days. 

On  the  following  day  he  wrote  this  to  his  partner,  Theo.  Umb- 
staetter : 

The  climate  is  very  pleasant,  the  weather  uniform.  The  forenoon  is 
delightful,  but  the  sea  breeze  in  the  afternoon  is  chilly. 


70  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

The  gentlemen  society  is  excellent.  I  say  gentlemen,  for  the  number 
of  families  is  too  limited  and  recent  to  form  an  established  female  so- 
ciety, such  as  exists  in  other  cities  of  the  same  size.  There  are  two  gen- 
tlemen's clubs,  and  club  life  is  here  very  pleasant.  All  the  gentlemen  of  the 
city  drop  in  usually  of  an  evening — I  mean  those  who  are  members.  The 
house  is  large,  the  rooms  spacious  and  well-furnished,  and  the  air  of  a 
fashionable  assembly  of  gentlemen  prevails.  There  are  several  theaters 
which  are  open  Sundays  as  well  as  week  days;  occasionally  a  fancy  danseuse 
makes  her  appearance. 

The  stated  preaching  of  the  gospel  is  also  well  attended,  there  being 
several  large  churches  which  are  thronged  every  Sunday.  At  the  present 
there  is  an  active  revival  going  on — prayer-meeting  every  day  from  12  to  1 
and  from  4  to  5  in  all  the  churches  and  they  are  well  attended,  it  is  said.  I 
can't  speak  from  observation. 

There  is  a  deep,  bitter,  and  revengeful  feeling  lingering  between  the 
Vigilantes  and  the  Law  and  Order  parties,  and  everybody  is  on  one  side 
or  the  other.  The  markets  are  excellent,  vegetables  in  abundance  and  of 
great  luxuriance.  We  have  strawberries,  green  peas,  cucumbers,  and 
asparagus.  The  meat  and  fish  market  is  also  very  fine.  At  a  dinner  Satur- 
day evening  we  had  frogs.  They  put  me  in  mind  of  Nardi's;*  give  him  my 
compliments. 

In  the  foregoing  letter  Stanton  expressed  the  belief  and  to 
his  wife  wrote  at  the  same  time  that  he  would  be  home  in  six  or 
eight  weeks.  She  repeated  this  promise  so  that  it  became  public, 
whereupon  Judge  Black  protested,  writing:  "There  is  no  other 
man  living  for  whom  I  would  have  assumed  the  responsibility  I  have 
taken  with  you.  You  must  succeed  or  prove  that  success  was  ut- 
terly impossible.  I  can't  float  unless  I  ride  on  the  wave  of  your 
reputation,  and  I  want  it  to  roll  high." 

A  letter  of  May  2,  to  Mr.  Watson,  throws  some  light  on  local 
conditions  at  San  Francisco: 

I  am  still  very  hard  at  work.  My  health  seems  to  continue  improving. 
No  asthmatic  symptoms  have  troubled  me  for  more  than  ten  days. 

The  purpose  of  my  visit  will  be  fully  accomplished  as  far  as  relates 
to  the  business  under  my  charge.  That  has  been  quite  evident  from  the 
investigations  already  made,  and  the  proof  that  has  been  accumulated 
since  my  arrival  here.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  excitement  among  the  parties 
adversely  interested,  but  it  evinces  itself  in  nothing  more  formidable  than 
a  newspaper  squib  occasionally;  and  as  no  opportunity  will  be  aflforded  for 
anything  else,  I  hope  to  get  through  my  employment  pleasantly  and  suc- 
cessfully. 

*A.  Nardi  was  the  caterer  and  general  manager  of  the  Pittsburg  club, 
which  had  quarters  in  Shaler  and  Stanton's  building  in  Pittsburg,  with 
whom,  for  several  years,  Stanton  took  his  meals. 


SECOND  MARRIAGE— CALIFORNIA  LAND  CASES  71 


Last  week  I  made  a  very  delightful  trip  around  the  Bay  of  San  Fran- 
cisco and  to  the  missions  of  Santa  Clara  and  San  Gare,  and  the  quicksilver 
mines.  That  region  of  country  was  more  beautiful  than  any  I  have  ever 
passed  through. 

The  city  is  to-day  deeply  interested  in  a  great  race  going  on,  and 
everybody  has  gone  out  to  the  race  course  to  see  a  man  ride  150  miles  in 
six  hours.  To-morrow  there  is  to  be  a  duel,  it  is  said.  It  grows  out  of  the 
fugitive  slave  law  case,  decided  since  my  arrival,  and  if  it  takes  place,  will 
no  doubt  be  a  bloody  affair.  A  great  deal  of  murderous  feeling  is  evinced 
on  the  subject.  With  all  of  its  advantages  of  climate,  soil,  and  minerals, 
California  is  heavily  cursed  with  the  bad  passions  of  bad  men  and  I 
would  not  like  to  make  my  permanent  abode  upon  its  soil. 

A  marvelous  thing  is  now  going  on  here.  The  mining  districts  of 
California  are  being  depopulated  by  the  rush  of  emigration  to  the  British 
possessions  on  Frazer's  River.  Most  disastrous  results  must  follow  in  Cali- 
fornia for  a  season.  Nor  is  it  any  delusion.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of 
the  richness  of  the  gold  fields  there. 

On  August  19,  he  must  have  been  homesick: 

I  have  fixed  the  22d  of  September  as  the  date  of  departure,  and  I  am 
hurrying  with  impatience  to  be  home.  If  I  reach  there  in  safety,  nothing 
shall  induce  me  to  wander  off  again.  Nothing  but  health  would  have 
tempted  me  on  this  occasion.  That  I  have  regained — whether  perma- 
nently or  not,  time  only  can  show.  I  have  seen  much,  learned  much,  and 
have  idled  away  no  time.  To  be  at  home  with  family  and  friends  is  now 
the  desire  of  my  heart. 

On  September  3,  he  wrote : 

In  July  I  had  no  doubt  of  being  able  to  leave  here  by  the  steamer 
that  takes  this  letter,  but  the  business  here  is  so  great  that  it  is  impossible 
to  calculate  on  time  beforehand.  On  Monday  I  shall  close  the  evidence  in 
the  Limantour  case,  for  which  I  came.  And  after  that  there  will  remain 
very  little  more  to  be  done  than  count  the  dead  and  bury  them. 

For  the  last  few  years  a  set  of  Mexicans  has  been  plundering  the  United 
States  at  the  rate  of  a  million  a  year  without  any  questions  being  asked. 
Having  determined  to  throw  a  brick  at  them,  I  shall  stay  to  see  where 
it  hits. 

On  November  25  he  wrote:  "Judgment  has  been  entered  in 
favor  of  the  United  States  in  all  my  cases  and  my  work  is  done." 

His  work  was  "done"  in  California  only,  as  he  learned  when 
the  cases  were  reopened  on  appeal  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States ;  and  his  task,  more  complicated  and  prolonged  than 
he  had  expected,  continued  to  hold  him  in  California. 

Met  at  the  outset  by  a  most  extraordinary  maze  of  forgery 


72  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

and  perjury,  and  unable  to  find  the  original  grants,  he  formulated 
and  sent  to  Washington  two  bills  which  were  enacted  into  laws 
(May,  1858) — one  to  compel  the  production  of  land  papers  and 
records,  and  the  other  punishing  the  fabrication  of  claims  or  docu- 
ments in  support  thereof.  Armed  with  these,  he  instituted  a  per- 
sonal search  of  all  the  archives  on  the  California  coast  and  was  re- 
warded by  discovering  not  only  the  original  grants,  but  the  corre- 
spondence showing  the  fraudulent  character  of  the  great  Liman- 
tour  claim.  The  fraud  was  defeated ;  Limantour,  abandoned  by 
his  lawyers,  was  indicted  and  fled  the  country ;  and  all  the  spurious 
grants,  including  that  covering  the  great  Alameda  quicksilver  mine, 
w^ere  defeated. 

Before  returning  (in  January,  1859)  he  gathered  and  digested 
the  Spanish  and  Mexican  land  laws  and  decisions  and  the  docu- 
ments relating  to  grants  and  reversions  which,  found  in  over  four 
hundred  volumes,  are  now  a  very  valuable  part  of  the  Government 
records. 

His  fee  was  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  and  the  Government 
paid  his  expenses  to,  from,  and  in  California.*  A  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars  would  not  have  been  unreasonable  compensation,  for  he  pre- 
vented a  stupendous  robbery  of  the  Government  and  of  San  Fran- 
cisco ;  saved  the  administration  from  disgrace ;  won  where  every- 
body else  had  failed ;  settled  the  land  titles  of  California ;  and 
changed  the  character  of  Pacific  coast  civilization. 


*The  passage  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco  cost  $300;  boarding, 
lodging,  washing,  etc.,  at  the  International  Hotel,  from  March  19,  1858,  to 
January  2,  1859,  $1,102.88;  passage  of  Stanton,  Lieut.  Harrison,  and  James 
Buchanan,  jr.,  from  San  Francisco  to  New  York,  $851.25;  transporting  bag- 
gage across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  $25.60. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
TRIAL  OF  DANIEL  E.  SICKLES. 

Stanton  left  San  Francisco  on  the  morning  of  January  3,  1859, 
and  was  with  his  family  in  Washington  during  the  first  days  of  Feb- 
ruary, having  been  absent  a  week  less  than  a  year.  His  asthma  was 
comatose  and  his  general  health  greatly  improved ;  but  he  had  not 
become  fully  rested  when,  on  Sunday,  February  27,  1859,  Daniel  E. 
Sickles,  member  of  Congress  from  the  city  of  New  York,  in  front 
of  his  residence  in  Washington,  shot  and  killed  Philip  Barton  Key, 
exclaiming:  "Key,  you  scoundrel,  you  have  dishonored  my  home; 
you  must  die." 

Sickles — talented,  handsome,  and  dashing — had  resided,  when 
first  married,  in  the  household  of  James  Buchanan  in  London,  his 
host  being  then  United  States  Minister  at  the  court  of  St.  James, 
and  himself  Secretary  of  Legation.  His  wife,  of  Latin  origin,  the 
daughter  of  the  composer  Baglioli,  had  deep,  dark,  lustrous  eyes  and, 
at  twenty-three,  "was  remarkable  for  something  especially  soft, 
lovely,  and  youthful  in  the  type  of  her  peculiar  beauty."  Key,  son  of 
the  author  of  the  "Star  Spangled  Banner,"  was  tall,  polite,  talented, 
polished,  and  a  widower.  His  sister  was  married  to  George  H. 
Pendleton  of  Ohio ;  his  father's  only  sister  was  the  wife  of  Chief 
Justice  Roger  B.  Taney,  and  he  himself  had  been  for  some  time 
United  States  Attorney  for  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  social, 
official,  and  political  prominence  of  the  parties  involved  gave  the 
tragedy  great  significance. 

On  Thursday  following  the  grand  jury  brought  in  an  indict- 
ment against  Sickles  for  murder,  and  on  April  4,  following,  the  trial 
began  with  Stanton  as  senior  attorney  for  the  defense.  Although 
the  property  qualification  for  jurors,  as  established  by  the  laws  of 
Maryland  in  1777,  had  for  years  been  a  dead  letter  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  Prosecutor  Robert  Ould  brought  it  up  in  this  case  for 
the  purpose  of  debarring  from  jury  service  citizens  against  whom  no 
other  objections  would  lie.     Stanton  made  a  strong  endeavor  to 


74  EDWIN  Mx^MASTERS  STANTON 

have  that  barbaric  rule  left  where  it  had  lain  so  many  years  undis- 
turbed, but  the  Court  sustained  the  prosecuting  attorney,  and  no  one 
who  could  not  swear  that  he  owned  property  in  the  District  valued 
at  eight  hundred  dollars  above  his  debts,  was  allowed  to  serve. 

One  peculiarity  of  the  trial  was  admitting  testimony  and  rul- 
ings from  the  trial  of  a  colored  slave  woman  in  North  Carolina  for 
the  purpose  of  excluding  written  evidence  favorable  to  Sickles,  and 
during  the  next  moment  ruling  out  the  testimony  of  a  free  colored 
woman  which  was  known  to  be  unfavorable  to  Key!  Stanton  con- 
tended that  the  "prosecution,  in  their  thirst  for  blood,  had  not  only 
forgotten  the  institution  of  slavery,  but  modern  society  and  law  as 
well."  J.  M.  Carlisle,  a  very  able  attorney,  attempted  to  gain  favor 
with  the  jury,  most  of  whom  were  slave-holders,  by  assailing  Stan- 
ton for  making  what  he  called  an  "anti-slavery  speech,"  but  there 
was  hearty  applause  when  Stanton  retorted  in  a  loud  voice :  "The 
doctrines  which  I  have  maintained  here  to-day  in  defense  of  homes 
and  families  will  be  the  proudest  record  I  can  leave  to  my  children." 
Hitherto  negroes  had  been  allowed  to  testify  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  but  Judge  Crawford  refused  to  admit  the  evidence  of 
any  colored  person  in  this  trial,  as  otherwise  there  would  be  placed 
on  record  the  inculpating  testimony  of  Xegro  Gray,  in  whose  house, 
rented  for  the  express  purpose,  Key  held  clandestine  meetings  with 
Mrs.  Sickles. 

The  case  was  fought  tenaciously.  On  the  eighteenth  day  Stan- 
ton began  to  sum  up  for  the  defense,  a  distinguished  audience  crowd- 
ing the  court-room.  A  portion  of  his  address,  which  was  rugged 
and  powerful  throughout,  is  reproduced*  from  the  official  steno- 
graphic notes  of  Felix  G.  Fontaine : 

Family  chastity,  the  sanctity  of  the  marriage  bed,  the  matron's  honor, 
and  the  virgin's  purity  are  more  valuable  and  estimable  in  law  than  the 
property  or  life  of  any  man.  The  present  case  belongs  to  that  class  on 
which  rest  the  foundations  of  the  social  system.  Here  in  the  capital  of  the 
nation,  the  social  and  political  metropolis  of  thirtj'  millions  of  people,  a  man 
of  mature  age,  the  head  of  a  family,  a  member  of  the  learned  profession, 
a  high  officer  of  Government,  intrusted  with  the  administration  of  the  law, 
and  who  for  years  at  this  bar  has  demanded  judgment  of  fine,  imprison- 
ment, and  death  against  other  men  for  offenses  against  the  law,  has  him- 
self been  slain  in  open  day  in  a  public  place  because  he  took  advantage  of 


*The  full  speech  appears  as  the  10th  selection  in  Snyder's  "Great 
Speeches  by  Great  Lawyers,"  a  volume  containing  the  world's  best  exam- 
ples of  learning,  logic,  eloquence,  truth,  justice,  and  power  in  oratory. 


TRIAL  OF  DANIEL  E.  SICKLES  75 

the  hospitality  of  a  sojourner  in  this  city.  Received  into  his  family,  he 
debauched  his  house,  violated  the  bed  oi  his  host,  and  dishonored  his  family. 
On  this  ground  alone,  the  deed  of  killing  was  committed.     *     *     * 

"What  God  hath  joined  together  let  no  man  put  asunder."  By  mar- 
riage, the  woman  is  sanctified  to  the  husband  and  this  bond  must  be  pre- 
served for  the  evil  as  well  as  for  the  good.  It  is  the  blessing  of  the  marital 
institution  that  it  weans  men  from  their  sins  and  draws  them  to  the  per- 
formance of  their  duties.  This  seal  of  the  nuptial  vow  is  no  idle  cere- 
mony. Thenceforth  the  law  commands  the  adulterer  to  beware  of  disturb- 
ing their  peace.  It  commands  that  no  man  shall  look  on  woman  and  lust 
after  her. 

The  penalty  for  disobedience  to  that  injunction  did  not  originate  in 
human  statutes;  it  was  written  in  the  heart  of  man  in  the  Garden  of  Eden, 
where  the  first  family  was  planted,  and  where  the  woman  was  made  bone  of 
man's  bone,  flesh  of  man's  flesh.  No  wife  yields  herself  to  the  adulterer 
till  he  has  weaned  her  love  from  her  husband;  she  revolts  from  her  obe- 
dience and  serves  the  husband  no  longer.  When  her  body  has  once  been 
surrendered  to  the  adulterer,  she  longs  for  the  death  of  her  husband,  whose 
life  is  often  sacriiiced  by  the  cup  of  the  poisoner,  or  the  dagger  or  pistol 
of  the  assassin.  The  next  greatest  tie  is  that  of  parent  and  child. 
If  in  God's  providence  a  man  has  not  only  watched  over  the  cradle  of  his 
child  but  over  the  grave  of  his  offspring,  and  has  witnessed  earth  com- 
mitted to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes  and  dust  to  dust,  he  knows  that  the  love 
of  a  parent  for  his  child  is  stronger  than  death.  The  bitter  lamentation— 
"Would  to  God  I  had  died  for  thee" — has  been  wrung  from  many  a  parent's 
heart.  But  when  the  adulterer's  shadow  comes  between  the  parent  and  the 
child,  it  casts  over  both  a  gloom  darker  than  the  grave.  What  agony  is 
equal  to  his  who  knows  not  whether  the  children  gathered  around  his 
board  are  his  own  offspring  or  an  adulterer's  brood,  hatched  in  his  bed.  To 
the  child  it  is  still  more  disastrous.  Nature  designs  that  children  shall 
have  the  care  of  both  parents;  the  mother's  care  is  the  chief  blessing  to 
her  child — a  mother's  honor  a  priceless  inheritance.  But  when  an  adulterer 
enters  a  family  the  child  is  deprived  of  the  care  of  one  parent,  perhaps 
of  both. 

When  death,  in  God's  providence,  strikes  a  mother  from  the  family, 
the  deepest  grief  that  preys  upon  a  husband's  heart  is  the  loss  of  her  nur- 
ture and  example  to  his  orphan  child;  and  the  sweetest  conversation  be- 
tween parent  and  child  is  when  they  talk  of  the  beloved  mother  who  is 
gone.  How  can  a  father  name  a  lost  mother  to  his  child,  and  how  can  a 
daughter  hear  that  mother's  name  without  a  blush?  Death  is  merciful 
compared  to  the  pitiless  cruelty  of  him  whose  lust  has  stained  the  fair 
brow  of  innocent  childhood  by  corrupting  the  heart  of  the  mother,  whose 
example  must  stain  the  daughter's  life. 

The  pride  and  glory  of  the  family  is  its  band  of  brothers  and  sisters. 
Sprung  from  the  same  love,  with  the  same  blood  coursing  in  their  veins, 
their  hearts  are  bound  together  by  a  cord  which  death  cannot  sever;  for 
wide  asunder  as  may  be  the  graves  of  a  household,  varied  as  may  be  their 
paths  on  earth,  when  life's  rough  ocean  is  passed,  sooner  or  later  they  will 


76  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

rejoice  on  the  heavenly  coast — a  family  in  heaven.  But  when  the  adulterer 
puts  a  yoang  wife  asunder  from  her  husband,  her  child  is  cut  off  from 
all  kindred  fellowship.  The  companionship  and  protection  of  a  brother  of 
the  same  blood  can  never  be  hers.  No  sister  of  the  same  blood  can  ever 
share  her  sorrow  or  her  joy.  Alone  thenceforth,  she  must  journey  through 
life,  bowed  down  with  a  mother's  shame.  Nor  does  the  evil  stop  here. 
It  reaches  up  to  the  aged  and  venerable  parents  of  the  wretched  husband 
and  of  the  ruined  wife  and  stretches  through  the  circles  of  relatives  and 
friends  that  cluster  around  every  hearth.  Such  are  the  results  of  that 
adulterer's  crime  on  the  home — on  the  home,  not  as  it  is  painted  by  the 
poet's  fancy,  but  as  it  is  known  and  recognized  by  the  law — as  it  exists  in 
the  household,  and  as  it  belongs  to  the  family  of  every  man.  They  show 
that  the  adulterer  is  the  foe  of  every  social  relation,  the  destroyer  of  every 
domestic  affection,  the  fatal  enemy  of  the  family,  and  the  destroyer  of  the 
home.  The  crime  belongs  to  the  class  known  in  law  as  tnala  in  se — evil  in 
itself — fraught  with  ruin  to  individuals  and  destruction  to  society. 

Such  being  its  nature,  we  can  easily  perceive  why  it  is  that  in  Holy 
Writ  the  crime  of  the  adulterer  is  pronounced  to  be  one  which  admits 
of  no  ransom  and  no  recompense.  We  can  perceive  why  it  is  that  in  every 
book  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  it  is  denounced;  why  it  is  that  by 
every  law-giver,  prophet,  and  saint,  it  is  condemned. 

We  can  understand  why  it  is  that  twice  it  is  forbidden  in  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments, and  why  it  is  that  Jehovah  himself,  from  the  tabernacle  in  the 
midst  of  the  congregation,  declared  that  "the  man  who  committeth  adultery 
with  another  man's  wife,  shall  surely  be  put  to  death."  By  God's  ordinance 
he  was  to  be  stoned  to  death,  so  that  every  family  in  Israel,  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  might  have  a  hand  in  the  punishment  of  the  common 
enemy  of  the  family! 

What  is  adultery?  It  cannot  be  limited  to  the  fleeting  moment  of  sexual 
contact;  that  would  be  a  mockery,  for  then  the  adulterer  would  ever  es- 
cape. But  law  and  reason  mock  not  human  nature  with  any  such  vain 
absurdity.  The  act  of  adultery,  like  the  act  of  murder,  is  supposed  to  in- 
clude every  proximate  act  in  furtherance  of,  and  as  a  means  to,  the  con- 
summation of  the  wife's  pollution.  This  is  an  established  principle  in 
American  and  English  law,  established  from  the  time  of  Lord  Stowell.  If 
the  adulterer  be  found  in  the  husband's  bed,  he  is  taken  in  the  act,  within 
the  meaning  of  the  law,  as  if  he  were  found  in  the  wife's  arms.  If  he 
provide  a  place  for  the  express  purpose  of  committing  adultery  with  another 
man's  wife,  and  be  found  leading  her,  accompanying  her,  or  following 
her  to  that  place  for  that  purpose,  he  is  taken  in  the  act.  If  he  not  only 
provides  but  habitually  keeps  such  a  place,  and  is  accustomed  by  precon- 
certed signals  to  entice  the  wife  from  the  husband's  house,  to  besiege  her 
in  the  streets  to  accompany  him  to  the  vile  den;  and  if  after  giving  such 
preconcerted  signals,  he  be  found  watching  her,  spy-glass  in  hand,  and 
lying  in  wait  around  a  husband's  house,  that  the  wife  may  join  him  for 
that  guilty  purpose,  he  is  taken  in  the  act. 

If  a  man  hire  a  house,  furnish  it,  provide  a  bed  in  it  for  such  a  purpose, 
and  if  he  be  accustomed,  day  by  day,  week  by  week,  and  month  by  month, 


TRIAL  OF  DANIEL  E.  SICKLES  77 

to  entice  her  from  her  husband's  house,  to  tramp  her  through  the  streets  to 
that  den  of  shame,  it  is  an  act  of  adultery,  and  is  the  most  appalling  one 
that  is  recorded  in  the  annals  of  shame.  If,  moreover,  he  has  grown  so  bold 
as  to  take  the  child  of  the  injured  husband,  a  little  daughter,  by  the  hand, 
to  separate  her  from  her  mother,  to  take  the  child  to  the  house  of  a  mu- 
tual friend  while  he  leads  the  mother  to  the  guilty  den,  in  order  there  to 
enjoy  her,  it  presents  a  case  surpassing  all  that  has  ever  been  written  of 
cold,  villainous,  remorseless  lust! 

If  this  be  not  the  culminating  point  of  adulterous  depravity,  how  much 
farther  could  it  go?  There  is  one  point  beyond;  the  wretched  mother,  the 
ruined  wife,  has  not  yet  plunged  into  the  horrible  filth  of  common  pros- 
titution, to  which  she  is  rapidly  hurrying,  and  which  is  already  yawning 
before  her.  Shall  not  the  mother  be  saved  from  that,  and  how  shall  it 
be  done?  When  a  man  has  obtained  such  power  over  another  man's  wife 
that  he  cannot  only  entice  her  from  her  husband's  house,  but  separate  her 
from  her  child  for  the  purpose  of  guilt,  it  shows  that  by  some  means  he 
has  acquired  such  an  unholy  mastery  over  that  woman's  body  and  soul  that 
there  is  no  chance  of  saving  her  while  he  lives,  and  the  only  hope  of  her 
salvation  is  that  God's  swift  vengeance  shall  overtake  him. 

The  sacred  glow  of  well-placed  domestic  affection,  no  man  knows 
better  than  your  Honor,  grows  brighter  and  brighter  as  years  advance; 
and  the  faithful  couple  whose  hands  were  joined  in  holy  wedlock  in  the 
morning  of  youth  find  their  hearts  drawn  closer  to  each  other  as  they 
descend  the  hill  of  life  to  sleep  at  its  foot;  but  lawless  love  is  as  short- 
lived as  it  is  criminal,  and  the  neighbor's  wife,  so  hotly  pursued  by  tramp- 
ling down  every  human  feeling  and  Divine  law,  is  speedily  supplanted  by 
the  object  of  some  fresher  lust,  then  the  wretched  victim  is  sure  to  be 
soon  cast  off  in  common  prostitution  and  swept  through  a  miserable  life 
and  a  horrible  death  to  the  gates  of  hell — unless  a  husband's  arm  shall 
save  her. 

Who,  seeing  this  thing,  would  not  exclaim  to  the  unhappy  husband: 
"Hasten,  hasten,  hasten  to  save  the  mother  of  your  child!  Although  she 
be  lost  as  a  wife,  rescue  her  from  the  horrid  adulterer;  and  may  the 
Lord  who  watches  over  the  home  and  family,  guide  the  bullet  and  direct 
the  stroke!"  [The  audience  broke  into  uproarious  applause  which  the  officers 
of  the  court  vainly  endeavored  to  check.] 

When  she  is  delivered,  who  would  not  reckon  the  salvation  of  that 
young  mother  cheaply  purchased  by  the  adulterer's  blood?  Aye,  by  the 
blood  of  a  score  of  adulterers.  The  death  of  Key  was  a  cheap  sacrifice  to 
save  one  mother  from  the  horrible  fate,  which  on  that  Sabbath  day  hung 
over  this  prisoner's  wife  and  the  mother  of  his  child. 

By  the  American  law,  the  htjsband  is  always  present  by  his  wife;  his 
arm  is  always  by  her  side;  and  his  wing  is  ever  over  her.  The  consent  of 
the  wife  cannot  in  any  degree  affect  the  question  of  the  adulterer's  guilt, 
and  if  he  be  slain  in  the  act  by  the  husband,  then  it  is  justifiable  homicide. 
By  the  contemplation  of  law  the  wife  is  always  in  the  husband's  presence, 
always  under  his  wing;  and  any  movement  against  her  person  is  a  move- 
ment against  his  rights  and  may  be  resisted  as  such. 


78  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

We  place  the  ground  of  defense  here  on  the  same  ground  and  limited 
by  the  same  means  as  the  right  of  personal  defense.  If  a  man  be  assailed, 
his  power  to  slay  the  assailant  is  not  limited  to  the  moment  when  the  mortal 
blow  is  about  to  be  given;  he  is  not  bound  to  wait  till  his  life  is  on  the 
very  point  of  being  taken;  but  any  movement  toward  the  foul  purpose 
plainly  indicated  justifies  him  in  the  right  of  self-defense,  and  in  slaying 
the  assailant  on  the  spot.  The  theory  in  our  case  is,  that  here  wa's  a  man 
living  in  a  constant  state  of  adultery  with  the  prisoner's  wife;  a  man  who 
was  daily  by  a  moral,  no,  by  an  immoral  power — a  power  enormous,  mon- 
strous and  altogether  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  American  society,  or  in 
the  history  of  the  family  of  man — over  the  being  of  this  woman,  calling  her 
from  her  husband's  house,  dragging  her  day  by  day  through  the  streets  in 
order  that  he  might  gratify  his  lust.  The  husband  beholds  him  in  the 
very  act  of  withdrawing  his  wife  from  his  roof,  from  his  presence,  from  his 
arm,  from  his  wing,  from  his  nest — meets  him  in  the  act  and  slays  him. 
And  we  say  that  the  right  to  slay  him  stands  on  the  firmest  principles  of 
self-defense. 

Prolonged  and  enthusiastic  applause  greeted  Stanton  at  the 
close  of  his  address,  w^hich  the  court  w^as  unable  to  suppress.  On 
the  twentieth  day  of  the  trial  the  case  was  submitted  to  the  jury, 
who  within  an  hour  returned  with  a  verdict  of  not  guilty.  The  au- 
dience, rising,  cheered  vociferously  as  Sickles  and  Stanton  passed 
out  to  their  carriage.* 


*SickIes,  whose  love  and  friendship  for  Stanton  never  abated,  took 
his  beautiful  young  wife  again  to  his  arms,  and  a  son  born  to  him  by  his 
second  wife  was  named  Stanton  Sickles. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
A  NEW  HOME— ELECTION  OF  1860. 

The  trial  of  Sickles  had  hardly  ended  before  Stanton  reentered 
the  reaping-machine  litigation  as  attorney  for  Obed  Hussey,  who 
sued  C.  H.  McCormick  for  infringement  of  his  patent  upon  the 
scalloped  sickle  and  open  fingers  of  the  cutter-bar  of  a  harvester. 
In  behalf  of  his  client  he  visited  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  Cleveland,  and 
other  cities,  making  an  argument  before  Justice  McLean  and  Judge 
Drummond  and  winning  his  case. 

In  ]\Iay,  1859,  while  the  reaper  suits  were  pending,  he  won 
what  is  said  to  be  the  first  successful  suit  to  compel  a  municipal 
corporation  to  pay  interest  on  railway  bonds  which  it  had  guaran- 
teed as  a  bonus  to  promote  the  construction  of  the  bonded  road. 
The  suit  was  brought  against  Pittsburg  in  1858  by  Oelrichs  and 
Company  of  New  York  City,  holders  of  guaranteed  bonds,  and  was 
concluded  in  the  United  States  court  in  favor  of  the  plaintiffs. 

In  October,  1859,  he  purchased  seven  thousand  three  hundred 
and  fifty  square  feet  of  land  on  the  north  side  of  K  Street  fronting 
Primrose  Hill  (now  Franklin  Square)  in  Washington,  for  five 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty  dollars.  The  location  is  one  of 
the  choicest  in  the  national  capital.  Thereon,  partly  with  money 
given  to  Mrs.  Stanton  by  her  father,  and  according  to  her  plans,  a 
large  brick  and  stone  house  was  erected  and  occupied  in  1860. 

William  Stanton  Buchanan,  who  grew  up  with  him,  says: 
"Stanton  loved  with  an  everlasting  love  the  friends  of  his  youth  and 
the  place  of  his  birth."  That  is  true.  At  the  same  time  that  he 
erected  the  Washington  residence,  he  purchased  for  three  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars  the  large  Andrews  house  in  Steubenville,  in 
which  his  first  wife  had  died  and  which  he  had  since  maintained  as 
a  home  for  his  mother,  the  widow  and  children  of  his  brother  Dar- 
win, and  his  sister  Oella  and  her  children.     He  thought  that,  when 


80  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

the  stormier  period  of  life  had  passed,  he  might  desire  to  return  to 
Steubenville  to  rest  and  to  die. 

In  the  meantime,  during  1860,  the  leading  claimants  who  had 
been  defeated  by  him  in  Cahfornia,  appealed  their  cases,  and  he 
was  preparing  for  their  argument  or  arguing  them  before  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court.  Thus  with  reaper  cases,  railroad  suits,  the 
California  land  claims,  and  other  litigation,  his  time  was  occupied 
within  his  office  almost  night  and  day,  while  without  the  nation 
was  racked  by  a  heated,  five-sided  presidential  contest.  The  can- 
didates were  Lincoln  and  Hamlin,  Douglas  and  Johnson,  Bell  and 
Everett,  Breckinridge  and  Lane,  and  Sam  Houston  and  "his  old 
Indian  blanket." 

Personally  he  was  friendly  with  and  esteemed  the  candidate 
for  president  on  the  Southern  ticket,  Vice-President  Breckinridge, 
but  thought  he  ought  not,  for  the  sake  of  the  nation,  being  a  sec- 
tional nominee,  to  win.  He  knew  little  of  the  Republican  nominee, 
but,  fearing  that  the  radical  abolition  leaders  who  were  supporting 
him  could  not  be  more  effectually  restrained  than  the  ultra  State- 
Sovereignty  adherents  of  Breckinridge,  believed  that  Lincoln,  too, 
ought  to  be  defeated.  He  hoped  that  the  election  of  Douglas,  who 
was  not  particularly  in  favor  with  either  the  pro-slavery  or  anti- 
slavery  faction,  might  be  a  golden  mean  to  avert  present  dis- 
aster, permit  the  nation  to  cool  down,  and  lead  its  contending  sec- 
tions to  come  to  a  peaceable  and  perhaps  ultimately  satisfactory 
arrangement. 

However,  he  frequently  expressed  the  opinion  that  "Lincoln 
would  be  victorious  by  a  narrow  margin  and  become  a  minority 
president,"  concluding  a  business  letter  to  his  Pittsburg  partner, 
Charles  Shaler,  on  July  2,  1860,  thus :  "There  is  much  suppressed 
excitement  over  the  political  situation.  The  Democrats  are  so  en- 
tirely divided  that  none  of  their  candidates  can  win,  in  my  opinion. 
The  Western  railsplitter  will  be  technically  elected,  and  we  shall 
see  great  dissension." 

Lincoln  carried  17  States,  receiving  180  electoral  and  1,866,352 
popular  votes ;  Breckinridge  carried  11  States,  receiving  72  electoral 
votes  and  845,763  popular  votes ;  Douglas  carried  2  States,  receiving 
12  electoral  and  1,375,157  popular  votes;  Bell  carried  3  States,  re- 
ceiving 39  electoral  and  589,581  popular  votes ;  Houston  and  "his  old 
Indian  blanket"  were  forgotten. 


]ames  Buchanan. 


Lewis  Cass, 
Secretary  of  State. 


Jeremiah  S.  Black, 
Secretary  of  Slate. 


Edwin  M.  Stanton, 

Attor7iey-  General. 


Gen.  J.  A.  Dix, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


Howell  Cobb, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


President  Buchanan  and  Members  of  His  Cabinet. 


A  NEW  HOME— ELECTION  OF  1860  81 

In  South  Carolina  the  electors  were  chosen  by  the  legislature, 
so  that,  practically,  Lincoln  received  1,000,000  less  of  the  popular 
suffrages  than  the  opposition.  He  was  to  be  what  Stanton  pre- 
dicted, "a  minority  president,"  and  the  South  began  active  prepa- 
rations to  withdraw  from  the  Union. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
A  SEETHING  CALDRON. 

Amid  great  public  excitement  and  a  rapid  culmination  of  start- 
ling events,  Stanton  went  to  Pittsburg  soon  after  election  to  try 
the  case  of  Fox  vs.  the  Hempfield  Railway  Company  in  the  United 
States  circuit  court.  While  thus  engaged,  a  message  from  Judge 
J.  S.  Black  requested  him  to  return  at  once  to  Washington,  as  the 
President  wished  to  nominate  him  for  attorney-general.  It  therefore 
becomes  necessary  to  make  a  partial  examination  of  the  heated 
and  violent  surroundings  into  which  he  was  thus  unexpectedly  flung. 

On  the  day  before  election  Governor  W.  H.  Gist  called  the 
legislature  of  South  Carolina  to  convene  in  extraordinary  session 
on  the  following  day  and  continue  in  session  until  it  should  be 
known  whether  Lincoln  had  been  elected  president ;  and,  "in  the 
event  of  such  election  that  the  services  of  ten  thousand  volunteers 
be  immediately  accepted,"  as  "the  only  alternative  left,  in  his  judg- 
ment, was  the  secession  of  South  Carolina  from  the  Federal  Union." 
Lincoln  was  elected  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  even  on  the  shipping 
in  Charleston  harbor,  were  everywhere  displaced  by  the  Palmetto 
Flag  of  South  Carolina,  and  military  preparations  rushed  forward 
with  enthusiasm. 

On  November  9,  Buchanan  met  his  cabinet  in  a  long  and  ex- 
cited session.  He  held  that  a  State  possessed  the  technical  right 
to  withdraw  from  the  Union,  and  on  that  subject  occurred  the 
first  serious  division  in  his  political  household,  Lewis  Cass,  secre- 
tary of  state,  threatening  to  resign.  In  this  dilemma  he  appealed 
to  Stanton,  then  assistant  attorney-general,  who  converted  him  to 
the  theory  that  the  United  States  is  a  nation,  and  prepared  an  ar- 
gument m  support  of  that  theory  for  insertion  in  the  forthcoming 
annual  message  to  Congress.  The  argument  being  accepted  and 
incorporated  in  the  message,  Stanton  left  for  Pittsburg,  as  above 
stated. 

During  his  absence  and  two  days  before  the  meeting  of  Con- 


A  SEETHING  CALDRON  83 

gress  (on  December  3)  "Buchanan  was  frightened  into  expunging 
from  his  message  the  assertion  of  the  power  to  coerce  a  State  in  re- 
bellion, and  induced  to  insert  in  its  place  the  contrary  doctrine,"* 
says  Henry  L.  Dawes,  who  "obtained  his  information  from  Stan- 
ton himself." 

Secretary  Cass  appealed  to  Buchanan  to  reinforce  the  forts  in 
Charleston  harbor  and  place  the  Federal  property  in  the  extreme 
slave  States  in  the  best  possible  condition  of  defense.  Buchanan 
was  unable  to  comply,  having  already  (on  December  9)  entered  into 
an  agreement,  stated  in  writing,  with  the  congressmen  from  South 
Carolina  that  he  would  hold  everything  in  check  while  the  South 
was  preparing  for  disunion. 

The  resignation  of  Cass  followed  on  the  12th  of  December. 
Black  was  appointed  to  be  his  successor  and  Stanton,  to  succeed 
Black  was  confirmed  by  the  Senate  on  Thursday,  the  20th.  Fran- 
cis E.  Spinner,  then  a  member  of  Congress,  says :  "A  committee 
headed  by  Edwin  D.  Morgan  and  myself  investigated  Mr.  Stanton 
after  his  nomination.  We  found  him  all  right — an  ardent  friend 
of  the  Union  and  ready  to  defend  it  at  all  hazards,  with  force  of 
arms  if  necessary." 

On  the  day  that  Cass  resigned,  Jacob  Thompson  of  Mississippi, 
secretary  of  the  interior,  told  Buchanan  that  he  was  going  to 
Raleigh  as  commissioner  from  his  State  to  induce  North  Carolina 
to  secede  from  the  Union,  and  the  President  replied  that  he  wished 
him  to  go  and  hoped  that  he  might  succeed."  Thompson  held  a 
public  reception  before  the  State  legislature  and  then  returned  to 
his  place  in  the  cabinet  and  to  the  arms  of  the  President  !f 

On  the  18th  Buchanan  despatched  Caleb  Cushing  secretly  to 
Governor  Pickens,  who  had  succeeded  Gist  as  executive  of  South 
Carolina,  with  a  proposition  to  postpone  further  open  secession 
operations   until   after   the   inauguration   of   Lincoln,    agreeing,    if 


*Jefferson  Davis  says  ("Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate  Government," 
page  57)  that  he  "was  called  from  Mississippi  to  Washington  by  messages 
from  two  of  Buchanan's  cabinet  to  supervise  and  give  direction  to  the 
President's  forthcoming  message,"  and  that  Buchanan  "very  kindly  ac- 
cepted all  the  modifications  suggested." 

fin  "Speeches  and  Writings  of  T.  L.  Clingman,"  page  20,  Mr.  Cling- 
man  says:  "I  could  not  help  exclaiming:  'Was  there  ever  before  a  poten- 
tate who  sent  out  his  own  cabinet  ministers  to  incite  an  insurrection 
gainst  his  own  government?'  " 


84  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Pickens  would  accede  to  the  request,  to  send  no  reinforcements 
of  men  or  munitions  to  Charleston  and  permit  no  change  in  the 
condition  of  other  Southern  forts  (that  would  be  inimical  to  se- 
cession) ;  but  the  mission  failed. 

During  the  day  on  which  Stanton  was  sworn  in,  South  Caro- 
lina unanimously  passed  the  ordinance  of  secession  and  wheeled 
out  of  the  Union.  Thus  the  force  intended  to  break  up  and  the 
genius  foreordained  to  save  the  Union  appeared  simultaneously  in 
the  arena. 

On  the  same  day  orders  were  made  by  Colonel  Henry  E. 
Maynadier,  chief  of  the  Ordnance  Department,  directing  the  com- 
mandant of  Allegheny  Arsenal,  Pittsburg,  to  ship  to  the  forts  at 
Ship  Island  and  Galveston,  Gulf  of  Mexico,  one  hundred  and  thir- 
teen columbiads  and  eleven  32-pounders  for  the  armament  of  those 
fortifications.  Major  John  Symington  of  Maryland,  in  charge  of 
the  arsenal,  began  preparations  to  carry  the  orders  into  effect.  Six 
of  the  larger  guns  had  been  dragged  to  the  wharf  and  four  of  them 
hoisted  to  the  deck  of  the  Silver  Wave  on  Friday,  December  28, 
when  a  great  mass-meeting  assembled  in  front  of  the  court-house 
in  Pittsburg  to  protest.  General  William  Robinson  presided,  open- 
ing with  a  patriotic  address,  which  was  followed  by  speeches  of  like 
tenor  from  Judge  Charles  Shaler  (Stanton's  law  partner)  and  others. 

Being  advised*  of  what  was  transpiring  at  Pittsburg,  Stanton 
inquired  of  the  Secretary  of  War  concerning  it  and  was  met  with  the 
statement  that  there  was  "no  information  on  file  touching  the 
matter."  From  the  War  Office  he  proceeded  to  Buchanan,  "who 
evinced  neither  surprise  nor  concern,"  merely  saying  that  he  had 
given  no  "official"  sanction  to  such  an  order,  although  Secretary 
Floyd  declared  that  the  President  knew  the  order  was  to  be  issued 
and  "advised  that  it  be  done  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  arouse  sus- 
picion!" 

On  Thursday,  January  3,  1861,  Stanton  telegraphed  to  the 
mayor,  George  Wilson,  that  the  order  had  been  officially  rescinded 
by  Secretary  Holt,  who  had  just  succeeded  Floyd,  and  received  a 


♦Robert  T.  Hunt  of  Pittsburg,  who  was  in  Shaler,  Stanton,  and 
Umbstaetter's  office  in  that  city,  says:  "Judge  Shaler  telegraphed  to  Stan- 
ton the  situation.  I  wrote  the  telegram  for  him  and  carried  it  to  the  tele- 
graph office.  I  thmk  Stanton  acted  on  that  telegram.  At  any  rate  he  re- 
plied,  and  the  shipment  of  cannon  was  stopped." 


A  SEETHING  CALDRON  85 

vote  of  thanks  on  the  following  evening  from  the  Pittsburg  city 
council. 

In  the  meantime  (December  23),  Governor  Pickens  had  sent  to 
W.  H.  Trescot,  who  left  the  post  of  assistant  secretary  of  state  to 
become  the  agent  of  South  Carolina  in  Washington,  a  telegram  stat- 
ing that  R.  W.  Barnwell,  J.  E.  Adams,  and  James  L.  Orr  had  been 
"appointed  commissioners  by  the  convention  to  proceed  immediately 
to  Washington  to  present  the  ordinance  of  secession  and  to  nego- 
tiate in  reference  to  the  evacuation  of  the  forts  and  other  matters 
growing  out  of  the  act  of  secession."  Trescot  laid  this  information 
before  the  President,  thus  giving  him  ample  time  to  consult  his 
cabinet  and  adopt  a  course  of  procedure,  which,  however,  he  did 
not  do. 

On  the  26th  the  commissioners  arrived,  and  the  President, 
without  reservation  as  to  manner  or  form,  agreed  to  meet  them  at 
1  o'clock  of  the  following  day.  In  fact  he  could  make  no  reserva- 
tion. He  had  agreed  on  the  9th  to  keep  the  military  status  un- 
changed until  commissioners  should  be  appointed  and  come  to 
treat  with  him  in  reference  to  breaking  up  the  Union  and  dividing 
the  Federal  debts  and  property,  and  they  had  arrived  in  accordance 
with  and  to  carry  out  the  terms  of  that  agreement. 

On  that  day  (December  26)  Stanton  wrote  to  W.  B.  Copeland, 
Pittsburg,  a  friend  of  his  childhood,  in  response  to  a  letter  of  con- 
gratulation : 

I  am  deeply  penetrated  by  the  kindness  manifested  by  your  note,  re- 
ceived this  morning. 

After  much  hesitation  and  serious  reflection,  I  resolved  to  accept 
the  post  to  which  in  my  absence  I  was  called,  in  the  hope  of  doing  some- 
thing to  save  this  Government.  I  AM  WILLING  TO  PERISH  IF 
THEREBY  THIS  UNION  MAY   BE  SAVED. 

We  are  in  God's  hands  and  His  almighty  arm  alone  can  save  us  from 
greater  misery  than  has  ever  fallen  upon  a  nation.  I  devoutly  pray  for 
His  help;  all  men  should  pray  for  succor  in  this  hour.  No  effort  of  mine 
shall  be  spared. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  27th  the  commissioners  learned 
that  Major  Robert  Anderson  had,  on  the  evening  of  the  26th,  aban- 
doned Fort  Moultrie,  spiking  the  guns  behind  him,  and  occupied 
Fort  Sumter.  Their  secretary,  Mr.  Trescot,  immediately  laid 
this  information  before  Senators  R.  M.  T.  Hunter  of  Virginia,  and 


86  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Jefferson  Davis  of  Mississippi,  who,  joining  him,  drove  quickly  to 
the  White  House. 

The  President  exclaimed,  on  hearing  the  news:  "My  God,  are 
calamities  never  to  come  singly?  I  call  God  to  witness  that  you 
gentlemen,  better  than  anybody,  know  that  this  is  not  only  with- 
out but  against  my  orders.    It  is  against  my  policy." 

He  was  strongly  urged  to  say  that  he  would  "replace  matters  as 
he  had  pledged  himself  they  should  remain,"  and,  says  Trescot,  "he 
at  first  seemed  disposed  to  declare  that  he  would  restore  the  status ; 
then  hesitated  and  said  he  must  call  his  cabinet  together,  as  he  could 
not  condemn  Major  Anderson  unheard."  Davis,  Hunter,  and  Tres- 
cot, together  with  Floyd,*  who  subsequently  came  in,  pressed 
Buchanan  with  great  vigor,  but  failed  because  the  President  had  "no 
official  information"  on  which  to  base  his  action.  However,  he  ad- 
journed the  appointment  to  meet  the  commissioners  formally 
until  the  next  day,  hoping  to  "be  able  to  accommodate  them  then." 

Before  the  cabinet  reconvened  next  day  Floyd  received  an  of- 
ficial telegram  from  Major  Anderson  confirming  the  news  brought 
by  the  South  Carolina  commissioners  and  announcing  that  he  had 
"abandoned  Moultrie  because  he  was  certain  that  if  attacked  he 
must  have  been  reinforced  or  the  command  of  the  harbor  lost."  An- 
derson was  condemned  by  Buchanan,  Thomas,  Thompson,  and 
Toucey.  Stanton  disagreed  strenuously,  exclaiming:  "Mr.  Presi- 
dent, it  is  my  duty  as  your  legal  adviser  to  say  that  you  have  no 
right  to  give  up  the  property  of  the  Government,  or  abandon  its  sol- 
diers to  its  enemies ;  and  the  course  proposed  [to  give  up  Sumter 


*Floyd  came  in  by  request  and  as  he  departed,  left  this  paper  with 
Buchanan: 

Council  Chamber,  Executive  Mansion. 
Mr.  President: 

It  is  evident  now  from  the  action  of  the  commander  at  Fort  Moultrie 
that  the  solemn  pledges  of  this  Government  have  been  violated  by  the  action  of 
Major  Anderson.  In  my  judgment  but  one  remedy  is  now  left  us  by  which 
to  vindicate  our  honor  and  prevent  civil  war.  It  is  in  vain  now  to  hope  for 
confidence  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina  in  any  further 
pledges,  as  to  the  action  of  the  military.  One  remedy  only  is  left  and  that 
is,  to  withdraw  the  garrison  from  the  harbor  of  Charleston  altogether.  I 
hope  the  President  will  allow  me  to  make  that  order  at  once.  This  order, 
in  my  judgment,  can  alone  prevent  blood-shed  and  civil  war. 

John  B.  Floyd. 
December  27,  I860. 


Benjamin  McCuli.och. 


John  H.  Reai;an. 


A  SEETHING  CALDRON  87 

and  abandon  Major  Anderson]  is  treason  and,  if  followed,  will  in- 
volve you  and  all  concerned  in  it  in  treason." 

Nevertheless  Buchanan  met  the  commissioners  on  the  28th,  ac- 
cording to  agreement.  R.  W.  Barnwell  (chairman)  laid  stress  on 
the  fact  that  the  written  arrangement  of  the  9th  between  the  Presi- 
dent and  the  South  Carolina  congressmen  (to  make  no  interference 
with  secession)  had  been  observed  in  good  faith  by  the  people  of 
his  State,  and  that  there  was  no  way  by  which  the  "violated  and 
forfeited  faith"  of  the  President  could  be  restored  except  to  promptly 
return  Anderson  and  his  command  to  Fort  Moultrie.  Three  times 
Barnwell  declared :  "Mr.  President,  your  personal  honor  is  involved. 
The  faith  you  pledged  has  been  violated  and  your  personal  honor 
requires  that  you  issue  that  order  at  once." 

The  President  wavered  for  some  time,  but,  without  question, 
would  have  redeemed  his  pledge  to  the  secessionists  if  he  had  not 
been,  as  James  L.  Orr  says,  "previously  screwed  up  and  terrorized 
by  Mr.  Stanton,  his  new  attorney-general."  The  commissioners,  on 
retiring,  handed  to  the  President  an  elaborate  paper,  officially  signed 
by  all  of  them,  giving  a  full  and  accurate  copy  of  all  secession  nego- 
tiations and  agreements  with  him,  and  begging  him  to  make  an 
explanation  of  his  violation  of  those  agreements  in  order  to  avoid 
bringing  "to  a  bloody  issue  questions  which  ought  to  be  settled 
with  temperance  and  judgment."  To  this  paper  Buchanan  prom- 
ised a  full  reply  in  writing. 

As  the  commissioners  withdrew  Stanton,  accompanied  by  Gen- 
eral Scott,  called  to  see  the  President.  Turning  to  Scott,  Stanton 
inquired : 

"General,  will  you  tell  us  exactly  what  position  Major  Ander- 
son is  in  from  a  military  point  of  view?" 

"Major  Anderson  was  right  in  leaving  Moultrie,"  answered 
Scott.  "Sumter  is  the  stronger  fortress.  In  that  two  hundred  men 
can  repel  South  Carolina  and  six  hundred  defy  the  world." 

"Then,"  earnestly  said  Stanton  to  the  President,  "I  hope  you 
will  forward  those  six  hundred  at  once,"  but  they  were  not  sent,  al- 
though there  were  nine  hundred  trained  soldiers  at  Watervliet  Ar- 
senal, near  Albany,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  of  whom  six 
hundred  were  instantly  available. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A  REMARKABLE  MEMORANDUM. 

To  the  letter  left  with  him  by  the  commissioners,  who  styled 
themselves  "ambassadors,"  Buchanan  prepared  a  full  reply  yielding 
in  the  main  the  points  they  demanded.  The  proceeding  was  start- 
ling to  Stanton,  who  exclaimed : 

These  gentlemen  claim  to  be  ambassadors.  It  is  preposterous!  They 
cannot  be  ambassadors;  they  are  law-breakers,  traitors.  They  should  be 
arrested.  You  cannot  negotiate  with  them;  and  yet  it  seems  by  this  paper 
that  you  have  been  led  into  doing  that  very  thing.  With  all  respect  to  you, 
Mr.  President,  I  must  say  that  the  Attorney-General,  under  his  oath  of 
office,  dares  not  be  cognizant  of  the  pending  proceedings.  Your  reply  to 
these  so-called  ambassadors  must  not  be  transmitted  as  the  reply  of  the 
President.  It  is  wholly  unlawful  and  improper;  its  language  is  unguarded 
and  to  send  it  as  an  official  document  will  bring  the  President  to  the  verge 
of  usurpation. 

As  this  stormy  meeting  broke  up,  Floyd  handed  in  his  resigna- 
tion because  the  President  was  no  longer  keeping  his  "solemn 
pledges  and  plighted  faith,"  and  was  succeeded,  as  already  stated, 
by  Joseph  Holt. 

Judge  Holt  says  Stanton's  "characterization  of  the  South  Caro- 
lina commissioners  as  law-breakers  and  traitors  was  not  aimed  at 
them  but  at  Buchanan,  whose  relations  with  those  gentlemen  had 
just  begun  to  dawn  upon  him."  They  were  not  "traitors"  in  the 
sense  in  which  the  term  is  generally  used,  because  they  had 
been  invited  to  Washington  to  segregate  the  property,  alienate  a 
portion  of  the  territory,  and  violate  the  integrity  of  the  United 
States  by  the  very  person  who  had  just  made  Stanton  a  member  of 
the  cabinet — President  Buchanan  himself!  Therefore,  if  they  were 
traitors,  Buchanan  was  a  traitor;  if  they  were  conspirators, 
Buchanan  was  an  arch-conspirator — for  was  he  not  President  of 
the  United  States,  solemnly  sworn  to  prevent  the  very  thing  he  had 
asked  these  commissioners  or  ambassadors  into  the  White  House 
to  consummate? 


A  REMARKABLE  MEMORANDUM.  89 

During  the  evening  of  this  day  of  storm  and  violence  Stanton 
met  Benjamin  F.  Butler  of  Massachusetts,  who  had  been  called 
hastily  to  Washington  to  confer  with  leading  Democrats  "on  the 
state  of  the  Union."  Going  over  the  situation  of  December,  1860, 
Mr.  Butler  says: 

I  knew  Mr.  Stanton.  He  related  fully  to  me  the  proceedings  of  the  pre- 
liminary meeting  between  the  President  and  the  South  Carolina  commis- 
sioners and  of  the  scene  in  the  cabinet  consultation,  which  he  had  just  left. 
He  was  full  of  wrath.  He  said  that  I  must  go  to  both  Black  and  Buchanan 
and  protest  against  the  fatal  course  the  administration  was  pursuing.  He 
told  me  that  the  so-called  ambassadors  had  actually  rented  a  house  in 
Washington — which  I  subsequently  learned  was  a  fact — expecting  to  re- 
main permanently  as  representatives  of  the  South  as  a  foreign  nation. 
He  said  that  he  had  informed  the  President  that  the  South  Carolina  agents 
were  traitors;  that  the  President  had  no  power  to  negotiate  with  them, 
and  that  I  must  tell  the  President  that  if  he  should  continue  negotiating 
with  traitors  he  would  place  himself  on  the  same  plane  with  traitors  and 
be  liable  to  impeachment  if  not  something  worse.  He  advised  me  also 
that  he  would  seek  Black  that  evening  and  prepare,  as  attorney-general, 
an  objection  to  the  President's  communication  to  the  so-called  ambassa- 
dors. 

I  was  deeply  impressed  by  his  aggressive  manner  and  the  grave  facts 
he  disclosed.  It  was  audacious  to  obey  his  request  to  personally  advise 
the  President  what  he  should  do,  but  the  more  I  thought  of  it,  the  more 
important  it  seemed,  and  I  went.  On  returning,  I  found  Judge  Black  at 
Willard's  Hotel  and  suggested  to  him  that  any  ofificer  negotiating  with 
these  gentlemen  from  South  Carolina  might  be  getting  his  neck  into  a 
halter.  He  was  frightened  by  that  color  of  affairs.  I  do  not  think  he  had 
appreciated  the  full  significance  of  the  situation,  as  I  know  I  had  not  be- 
fore listening  to  Stanton,  whose  head  was  clear  and  who  turned  the  whole 
course  of  events  at  that  time  and  prevented  a  disgraceful  chapter  in  our 
history.  Black,  too,  changed,  and  when  we  were  through  our  conversa- 
tion, took  his  carriage  and  drove  away  to  see  Stanton. 

Butler  also  advised  Black  to  have  the  South  Carolina  commis- 
sioners indicted,  and  offered  his  services  gratis  for  their  prosecu- 
tion in  case  of  their  arrest.  John  A.  (Bowie-Knife)  Potter  of  Wis- 
consin, a  member  of  Congress  at  that  time,  says  Stanton  "outlined 
facts  for  the  Dawes  committee  as  a  basis  for  articles  of  impeach- 
ment of  President  Buchanan  if  such  a  course  should  become  neces- 
sary, being  greatly  disturbed  lest  the  Executive  should  cede  away 
the  Union  and  destroy  the  Government,"  and  Major  A.  E.  H. 
Johnson    (then  a  clerk  in  Watson's  office)    says   Stanton   "spent 


90  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

hours   consulting  with    P.   H.   Watson   about   laws   covering   im- 
peachment." 

The  hour  was  one  of  extreme  tension  and  great  national  peril. 
Next  morning  (following  the  interview  of  the  commissioners  with 
the  President)  Buchanan  was  informed  that  if  the  attitude  of  the 
administration  toward  the  secessionists  and  its  relations  with  them 
should  not  be  changed,  Stanton  and  Black  would  resign.  He 
quickly  sent  for  those  two  stalwarts  and  advised  them  that  he 
"could  have  no  further  disruption  of  his  official  household"  and 
had  "decided  to  revamp  the  communication  to  the  gentlemen  from 
South  Carolina."  "Then,"  says  Judge  Holt,  "he  handed  the  draft 
of  his  reply  to  the  South  Carolina  Commissioners  over  to  the  At- 
torney-General [Stanton]  and  requested  him  to  prepare  any  legal 
objections  there  might  be  to  its  clauses,"  confirmation  of  which  is 
found  in  the  following  letter  to  General  William  Robinson  of  Pitts- 
burg: 

Private.  Washington  City,  30th  December,  1860. 

Dear  Sir: 

I  am  truly  grateful  for  your  hearty  message  of  good  will  and  congratu- 
lation and  for  your  promise  that  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  can  be  relied 
on  for  whatever  aid  may  be  needed  to  preserve  our  imperiled  Union. 

We  are  enveloped  in  a  great  deal  of  dust  and  fog,  but  the  smudge  is 
not  so  thick  that  I  cannot  distinctly  discern  treason  all  around  us. 

Judge  Black  and  myself  have  been  dumbfounded  by  a  meeting  of  the 
President,  as  President,  with  the  so-called  South  Carolina  commissioners. 
At  first  we  agreed  to  resign  at  once,  but  after  going  carefully  over  the  sub- 
ject thought  it  better  to  state  our  objections  or  views  in  writing  before  tak- 
ing any  step  that  might  later  be  considered  precipitate. 

Judge  Black  is  closer  to  the  President  than  myself  and  exercises  a 
great  deal  of  influence  over  him.  He  will  present  the  written  objections, 
which  I  have  just  prepared,  and  stand  by  for  the  purpose  of  extricating  the 
President  from  his  present  peril. 

If  he  [Buchanan]  shall  refuse  to  recede,  it  seems  to  me  there  is  no 
escape  for   Black,   Holt,   and   myself  except   resignation. 

I  tremble  to  think  that  the  administration  is  already  semi-officially  com- 
mitted to  the  theory  that  South  Carolina  is  an  independent  nation  or  "re- 
public" capable  of  negotiating  treaties;  and  if  that  theory  shall  not  be  com- 
pletely broken  down,  followed  by  reinforcements  to  hold  our  beleaguered 
and  threatened  Southern  forts,  there  will  not  be  a  semblance  of  the  Union 
left  on  March  4,  next. 

I  fear  that  your  offer  of  help  on  the  part  of  Pennsylvania  nuy  be  founded  on  a 
necessity  greater  than  yourself  or  the  public  now  discern. 

I  have  written  Judge  Loomis  to  bring  you  to  the  house  when  you 
arrive  in  Washington  next  week.     I   shall   be  happy   to   have   your   com- 


A  REMARKABLE  MEMORANDUM  91 

pany  under  my  roof.  Although  for  over  a  week  breakfast  has  been  my 
only  meal  at  home,  I  look  forward  to  more  time  early  next  month.  Ex- 
tending to  you  the  compliments  of  the  season,  believe  me, 

Very  truly  yours, 
To  General  William  Robinson.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

The  "written  objections"  referred  to  in  the  foregoing  letter — 
grand  and  powerful  "objections,"  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events 
— are  as  follows : 

Memorandum  for  the  President  on  the  Subject  of  the  Paper  Drawn  up  by  him 
itt  Reply  to  the  Commissioners  of  South  Carolina: 

First — The  first  and  the  concluding  paragraph  both  seem  to  acknowl- 
edge the  right  of  South  Carolina  to  be  represented  near  this  Government 
by  diplomatic  officers.  That  implies  that  she  is  an  independent  nation,  with 
no  other  relations  to  the  Government  of  the  Union  than  any  other  foreign 
power.  If  such  be  the  fact,  then  she  has  acquired  all  the  rights,  powers, 
and  responsibilities  of  a  separate  government  by  the  mere  ordinance  of  se- 
cession which  passed  her  convention  a  few  days  ago.  But  the  President 
has  always,  and  particularly  in  his  late  message  to  Congress,  denied  the 
right  of  secession  and  asserted  that  no  State  could  throw  off  her  Federal 
obligations  in  that  way.*  Moreover,  the  President  has  very  distinctly  de- 
clared that  even  if  a  State  should  secede  and  go  out  of  the  Union  at  pleas- 
ure, whether  by  revolution  or  in  the  exercise  of  a  constitutional  right,  he 
could  not  recognize  her  independence  without  being  guilty  of  usurpation. 
I  think,  therefore,  that  every  word  and  sentence  which  implies  that  South 
Carolina  is  in  an  attitude  which  enables  the  President  to  treat  or  nego- 
tiate with  her  or  to  receive  her  commissioners  in  the  character  of  diplo- 
matic ministers  or  agents,  ought  to  be  stricken  out  and  explicit  declara- 
tions substituted  which  would  reassert  the  principles  of  the  message.  It  is 
surely  not  enough  that  the  words  of  the  message  be  transcribed  if  the  doc- 
trine therein  announced  be  practically  abandoned  by  carrying  on  a  nego- 
tiation. 

Second — I  would  strike  out  all  expressions  of  regret  that  the  commis- 
sioners are  unwilling  to  proceed  with  the  negotiations,  since  it  is  very  clear 
that  there  can  be  no  negotiations  with  them,  whether  they  are  willing  or 
not. 

Third — Above  all  things  it  is  objectionable  to  intimate  a  willingness  to 
negotiate  with  the  State  of  Carolina  about  the  possession  of  a  military  post 
which  belongs  to  the  United  States,  or  to  propose  any  adjustment  of  the 
subject  or  any  arrangement  about  it.  The  forts  in  Charleston  harbor  be- 
long to  this  Government — are  its  own,  and  cannot  be  given  up.  It  is  true, 
they  might  be  surrendered  to  a  superior  force,  whether  that  force  be  in 
the  service  of  a  seceding  State  or  a  foreign  nation;  but  Fort  Sumter  is  im- 
pregnable and  cannot  be  taken  if  defended  as  it  should  be.     It  is  a  thing  of 


*In   his   message    of   December    3,    Buchanan    said    that    secession    was 
revolution  and  the  right  of  revolution  existed  everywhere. 


93  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

the  last  importance  that  it  should  be  maintained  if  all  the  power  of  this 
nation  can  do  it;  for  the  command  of  the  harbor  and  the  President's  ability 
to  execute  the  revenue  laws  may  depend  on  it. 

Fourth — The  words  "coercing  a  State  by  force  of  arms  to  remain  in 
the  Union,  a  power  which  I  do  not  believe  the  constitution  has  conferred 
on  Congress,"  ought  certainly  not  to  be  retained.  They  are  too  vague,  and 
might  have  the  effect  (which  I  am  sure  the  President  does  not  intend)  to 
mislead  the  commissioners  concerning  his  sentirhents.  The  power  to  de- 
fend the  public  property,  to  resist  an  assailing  force  which  unlawfully  at- 
tempts to  drive  out  the  troops  of  the  United  States  from  one  of  their  for- 
tifications, and  to  use  the  military  and  naval  forces  for  the  purpose  of 
aiding  the  proper  officers  of  the  United  States  in  the  execution  of  the 
laws — this,  as  far  as  it  goes,  is  coercion,  and  very  well  may  be  called  "co- 
ercing a  State  by  force  of  arms  to  remain  in  the  Union."  The  President 
has  always  asserted  his  right  of  coercion  to  that  extent.  He  merely  de- 
nies the  right  of  Congress  to  make  offensive  war  upon  a  State  of  the 
Union,  as  such  might  be  made  on  a  foreign  Government. 

Fifth — The  implied  assent  of  the  President  to  the  accusation  which  the 
commissioners  make  of  a  compact  with  South  Carolina,  by  which  he  was 
bound  not  to  take  whatever  measures  he  saw  fit  for  the  defense  of  the  forts, 
ought  to  be  stricken  out,  and  a  flat  denial  of  any  such  bargain,  pledge,  or 
agreement  inserted.  The  paper  signed  by  the  late  members  of  Congress 
from  South  Carolina  does  not  bear  any  such  construction,  and  this,  as  I 
understand,  is  the  only  transaction  between  South  Carolina  and  him  which 
bears  upon  the  subject,  either  directly  or  indirectly.  I  think  it  deeply 
concerns  the  President's  reputation  that  he  should  contradict  this  state- 
ment, since,  if  it  be  undenied,  it  puts  him  in  the  attitude  of  an  executive 
officer  who  voluntarily  disarms  himself  of  the  power  to  perform  his  du- 
ties and  ties  his  hands  so  that  he  cannot,  without  breaking  his  oath,  "pre- 
serve, protect,  and  defend  the  constitution" — "see  the  laws  faithfully  exe- 
cuted." The  fact  that  he  pledged  himself  in  such  a  way  cannot  be  true. 
The  commissioners  have,  no  doubt,  been  so  informed,  but  there  must  be 
some  mistake  about  it.  It  arose,  doubtless,  out  of  the  President's  anxious 
and  laudable  desire  to  avoid  civil  war  and  his  often-expressed  determina- 
tion not  even  to  furnish  an  excuse  for  an  outbreak  at  Charleston  by  re- 
inforcing Major  Anderson  unless  it  was  absolutely  necessary. 

Sixth — The  remotest  expression  of  a  doubt  about  Major  Anderson's 
perfect  propriety  of  behavior  should  be  carefully  avoided.  He  is  not  merely 
a  gallant  and  meritorious  officer  who  is  entitled  to  a  fair  hearing  before  he 
is  condemned;  he  has  saved  the  country,  I  solemnly  believe,  when  its  day 
was  darkest  and  its  perils  most  extreme.  He  has  done  everything  that 
mortal  man  can  do  to  repair  the  fatal  error  which  the  administration  has  com- 
mitted in  not  sending  down  troops  enough  to  hold  all  the  forts.  He  has  kept  the 
strongest  one.  He  still  commands  the  harbor.  We  may  still  execute  the 
laws  if  we  try.  Besides,  there  is  nothing  in  the  orders  which  were  sent 
to  him  by  the  War  Department  which  is  in  the  slightest  degree  contra- 
vened by  his  act  of  throwing  his  command  into  Fort  Sumter.  Even  if 
those  orders,  sent  without  your  knowledge,  did  forbid  him  to  leave  a  place 


A  REMARKABLE  MEMORANDUM  93 

where  his  men  might  have  perished  and  shelter  them  under  a  stronger  po- 
sition, we  ought  all  of  us  to  rejoice  that  he  broke  such  orders. 

Seventh — The  idea  that  a  wrong  was  committed  against  South  Carolina 
by  moving  from  Fort  Moultrie  to  Fort  Sumter  ought  to  be  repelled  as 
firmly  as  may  be  consistent  with  a  proper  respect  for  the  high  character  of 
the  gentlemen  who  compose  the  South  Carolina  commission.  It  is  a 
strange  assumption  of  right  on  the  part  of  that  State  to  say  that  the  United 
States  troops  must  remain  in  the  weakest  position  they  can  find  in  the 
harbor.  It  is  not  a  menace  of  South  Carolina  or  of  Charleston  or  any 
menace  at  all.  It  is  simple  self-defense.  If  South  Carolina  does  not  at- 
tack Major  Anderson,  no  human  being  will  be  injured;  for  there  certainly 
will  be  no  reason  to  believe  that  he  will  commence  hostilities.  The  ap- 
parent objection  to  his  being  in  Fort  Sumter  is  that  he  will  be  less  likely 
to  fall  an  easy  prey  to  his  assailants. 

These  are  points  on  which  I  would  advise  that  the  paper  be  amended. 
I  am  aware  that  they  are  too  radical  to  permit  much  hopes  of  their  adop- 
tion. If  they  are  adopted,  the  whole  paper  will  need  to  be  recast.  But 
there  is  one  thing  not  to  be  overlooked  in  this  terrible  crisis:  I  entreat  the 
President  to  order  the  Brooklyn  and  the  Alacedonian  to  Charleston  without 
the  least  delay,  and  in  the  meantime  to  send  a  trusty  messenger  to  Major 
Anderson  to  let  him  know  that  his  Government  will  not  desert  him.  The 
reinforcement  of  troops  from  New  York  or  Old  Point  Comfort  should 
follow  immediately.  If  this  be  done  at  once  all  may  yet  be,  not  well,  but 
comparatively  safe.  If  not,  I  can  see  nothing  before  us  but  disaster  and 
ruin  to  the  country. 

Stanton's  letter  to  General  Robinson  indicates  that  the  fore- 
going remarkable  paper  is  entirely  his  own  work ;  but  Joseph  Holt 
believes  that  two  paragraphs  were  injected  by  Judge  Black  after 
Stanton  had  written  to  General  Robinson.    He  says : 

After  Attorney-General  Stanton  had  complied  with  the  President's 
request  to  prepare  a  set  of  legal  objections  to  the  proposed  executive 
reply  to  the  South  Carolina  commissioners,  he  read  his  brief  to  me.  I 
took  it  in  my  hand  and  read  it  again,  carefully.  It  was  in  five  numbered 
paragraphs,  while  the  present  paper  contains  seven  numbered  para- 
graphs. I  approved  Mr.  Stanton's  brief  and  he  left  me  for  a  consulta- 
tion with  Judge  Black.  When  we  met  the  President,  Mr.  Stanton  stated 
to  me  that  Judge  Black  had  injected  some  new  paragraphs  which  he  hoped 
would  meet  my  views.  I  voted  in  favor  of  the  policy  outlined  in  the 
amended  Memorandum  which,  in  future  history,  will  be  a  wonderful  paper. 
The  portions  which  seem  to  have  been  suggested  by  Judge  Black  include 
paragraphs  two  and  four  in  the  existing  document. 

In  this  connection  I  ought  to  state  that  at  first  Mr.  Stanton  objected  to 
any  reply  at  all  by  the  President  to  the  commissioners,  declaring  that  any 
form  of  executive  negotiation  for  the  purpose  indicated  was  unlawful  and 
criminal. 


94  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

While  the  Memorandum  was  under  discussion  in  the  cabinet, 
Buchanan  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  his  agreement  of  Decem- 
ber 9  with  the  South  Carolina  congressmen  and  claimed  that  he  was 
now  "affected  by  it  pesonally."  He  pleaded :  "You  do  not  seem 
to  appreciate  that  my  personal  honor  as  a  gentleman  is  involved," — 
precisely  what  Commissioner  Barnwell  urged  with  so  much  ve- 
hemence. Stanton  explained  that  such  an  agreement  was  impos- 
sible and  no  agreement  because  the  President  was  "absolutely  in- 
capable of  making  or  having  an  understanding,  in  writing  or  oth- 
erwise, that  would  so  tie  his  hands  as  to  prevent  the  execution  of 
the  laws."  Quoting  what  the  Duke  of  Wellington  said  to  George 
IV.,  he  declared  that  Buchanan  was  "not  a  gentleman  but  President 
of  the  United  States,  solemnly  sworn  to  execute  every  law  made 
for  the  protection  of  its  property,  people,  and  territory." 

The  conference  broke  up  and  the  President  proceeded  with 
the  draft  of  his  reply  to  the  commissioners,  promising  to  make  it 
accord  with  the  Memorandum  filed  with  him.  But  he  broke  the 
promise — censuring  Major  Anderson,  admitting  the  secret  bargain 
with  the  South  Carolina  congressmen,  and  confessing  that  his  "first 
promptings  were  to  order  Anderson  back  to  Moultrie." 

This  communication  was  delivered  to  the  commissioners  with- 
out the  knowledge  of  Stanton,  Black,  or  Holt.  The  commissioners 
made  a  lengthy  rejoinder  to  it  and,  on  Friday,  January  6,  gave  the 
entire  correspondence  on  both  sides  to  the  public.  This  corre- 
spondence, together  with  the  foregoing  Memorandum — in  which 
occurs  the  sentence,  "the  fatal  error  which  the  administration 

HAS    committed  IN  NOT  SENDING   TROOPS    ENOUGH    TO  HOLD  ALL    THE 

forts" — places  Buchanan  in  a  position  from  which  no  historian 
can  extricate  him  and  fixes  Stanton  upon  a  pinnacle  from  which 
all  time  cannot  dethrone  him. 

On  October  3,  1863,  Augustus  Schell  of  New  York  inquired  of 
Stanton  in  writing  whether  an  account  of  the  above-described  cabi- 
net meetings  which  Thurlow  Weed  had  given  in  the  London  Ob- 
server was  correct.  He  replied  that  it  was  substantially  true,  say- 
ing: 

According  to  my  recollection  *  *  Mr.  Buchanan  manifested 
a  determination  to  order  Major  Anderson  back,  upon  the  ground  that  it 
was  essential  to  the  peace  of  the  country,  and  also  that  the  movement  [of 
Anderson  from  Moultrie  to  Sumter]  was  a  violation  of  some  pledge  or 
promise  of  his,  which  he  was  bound  to  fulfil.     Thompson  and  Floyd  both 


A  REMARKABLE  MEMORANDUM  95 

asserted  repeatedly  *  *  *  ^y^^^  such  a  pledge  had  been  given 
and  during  three  days'  debate  I  did  not  hear  him  [Buchanan]  deny  it.         * 

*  *  From  the  first  the  proposition  [to  order  Anderson  back  to  Fort 
Moultrie]  received  my  determined  hostility  and  that  of  tw^o  other  members 
of  the  cabinet.  *  *  *  Apprehending  that  the  proposition  would 
be  adopted  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  my  resignation  was  signed  and  ready  to  be 
delivered   the   instant   the   order   should   be  made.         ***** 

*  *  The  proposition  to  give  up  Fort  Sumter  was  made  by  Floyd.  Mr. 
Buchanan  consulted  his  cabinet  upon  it,  some  of  whom  violently  advocated 
it  while  others  opposed  it  resolutely  as  a  crime;  and  after  several  days' 
debate  it  was  rejected.  I  asserted  then  to  Mr.  Buchanan,  and  assert  now, 
that  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter  by  the  Government  would  have  been,  in 
my  opinion,  a  crime  equal  to  the  crime  of  Arnold,  and  that  all  who  par- 
ticipated in  the  act  should  have  been  hanged. 

Knowing  that  otlier  members  of  Buchanan's  cabinet  had  been 
similarly  besought  by  Mr,  Schell,  Stanton  submitted  the  reply 
from  which  the  foregoing  extract  is  taken  to  Judge  Holt.  Holt's 
judgment  was  opposed  to  public  discussion  of  the  Buchanan  ad- 
ministration by  its  chief  participants  during  the  progress  of  the  war. 
Stanton  adopted  that  view  and  did  not  send  his  reply,  which 
was  found  among  his  papers  after  his  death  and  identified  by  Judge 
Holt.  Whether  or  not  so  intended,  it  is  a  terrible  indictment  of 
Buchanan,  and  one  that  never  can  be  quashed. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
GIGANTIC  BATTLE  FOR  THE  UNION. 

Thoroughly  aroused  by  the  thickening  dangers  around  him, 
Stanton  now  sought  the  pressure  of  pubHc  opinion  upon  the  Presi- 
dent in  favor  of  reinforcing  the  Southern  forts  and  protecting  Fed- 
eral property  in  seceding  States.  He  requested  Henry  Winter 
Davis,  a  representative  in  Congress  from  Baltimore,  to  prepare  an 
address  to  the  people  to  counteract  the  promise  of  Senator  Iverson 
(of  Georgia)  that,  if  Maryland  would  secede  with  the  other  slave 
States,  Washington  should  be  continued  as  the  seat  of  the  proposed 
new  slave  government,  and  it  appeared  in  the  Baltimore  Patriot. 
He  also  wrote  to  George  Harding  and  others  in  Philadelphia  to 
promote  a  Union  mass-meeting,  which  was  held  on  January  5  and 
attended  by  seven  thousand  citizens  who  adopted  resolutions  "heart- 
ily approving  the  conduct  of  Major  Anderson,  calling  on  the  Presi- 
dent to  provide  him  with  all  the  force  he  required  for  the  defense  of 
his  position,  and  pledging  themselves  to  protect  the  American  flag 
to  the  last  extremity." 

Stanton,  who  had  previously  supplied  to  him  a  copy  of  the  out- 
line plans  of  secession,*  formulated  by  the  Southern  leaders,  laid 
a  copy  of  the  Philadelphia  resolutions  before  the  President,  saying: 


*First — That  in  the  event  of  a  rupture  with  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, the  authorities  of  South  Carolina,  in  their  sovereign  capacity,  imme- 
diately seize  the  fortifications  and  all  defenses  of  the  State  harbors; 

Second — That  all  forts,  arsenals,  dock-yards,  barracks,  etc.,  belonging 
to  the  United  States,  situated  on  the  Southern  coast,  including  fortifica- 
tions from  Cape  Henry,  in  Virginia,  to  the  southermost  coast  borders  of 
Texas,  be  immediately  seized  by  State  troops,  upon  the  first  intimation  of 
Government  coercion  upon  South  Carolina; 

Third — That  the  telegraph,  railroad,  and  stage  stations  in  the  interior 
districts  be  placed  under  the  censorship  and  control  of  duly  appointed 
State  agents  in  their  several  localities; 

Fourth — That  intercommunication  between  the  Southern  and  Northern 
ports  be  interdicted,  so  far  as  the  introduction  of  articles  contraband  of 
war  into  Southern  from  Northern  States  may  be  concerned; 


GIGANTIC  BATTLE  FOR  THE  UNION  97 

"This  is  the  voice  of  the  chief  men  in  the  chief  city  in  your 
State.  It  is  the  sentiment  you  will  hear  from  everywhere  in  the 
North  and  from  most  of  the  border  States."  Similar  meetings 
were  held  in  other  large  cities  of  the  North,  New  York  excepted,* 
strengthening  the  hands  of  Stanton,  Black,  and  Holt. 

A  secret  meeting  of  secession  leaders  in  Washington,  held 
simultaneously  with  the  Philadelphia  gathering,  decided  against 
the  safety  of  postponing  the  formal  act  of  secession  beyond  March 

4,  and  resolved  that  all  the  slave  States  should  secede  at  once  and 
hold  a  convention  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  for  the  formation  of 
a  new  government.  They  also  resolved  that  the  Southern  sena- 
tors and  representatives  should  remain  in  their  seats  at  Washing- 
ton as  long  as  possible  to  "aid  in  the  cause  of  liberty"  by  "exposing 
and  thwarting  measures  hostile  to  the  secession  movement."  Sena- 
tors Jefferson  Davis  of  Mississippi,  John  Slidell  of  Louisiana,  and 

5.  R.  Mallory  of  Florida  were  chosen  to  carry  the  resolutions  into 
effect. 

Thousands  of  rooms  in  Washington  were  engaged  by  South- 
erners "until  the  fourth  of  March,"  the  object  being.  Senator  Louis 
T.  Wigfall  of  Texas  declared,  "to  have  our  friends  on  the  ground 
in  case  of  emergency."  The  "emergency"  contemplated  was  the 
seizure  of  the  national  capital  and  archives  previous  to  the  inau- 
guration of  Lincoln.  The  command  of  the  enterprise  was  to  be  in 
the  hands  of  Major  Benjamin  McCulloch  of  Texas,  who  had  already 
surveyed  the  city  of  Washington  and  otherwise  prepared  not  only 
for  its  investment,  but  for  "subsequently  repelling  Northern  in- 
vasion." 

The  date  fixed  for  the  coup  d'etat  was  Friday,  February  15, 
when  "the  count  of  the  electoral  votes  was  to  be  interrupted  and 


Fifth — The  expatriation  from  the  Southern  States  of  all  Northerners 
and  others  who  do  not  recognize  the  right  of  secession,  or  cooperate  in 
secession  movements; 

Sixth — The  seizure  and  confiscation  of  all  goods  contraband  of  war; 

Seventh — The  confiscation  of  the  property  of  non-sympathizers; 

Eighth— Th.t  defense  of  the  State  against  foreign  legions,  come  from 
what  quarter  they  may. 


*On  the  same  day  (January  7)  Mayor  Fernando  Wood  sent  to  the 
council  a  message  advocating  the  secession  of  New  York  City,  saying  she 
would  have  the  "un'itea  support  of  the  Southern  States." 


98  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

the  constitutional  declaration  of  Lincoln's  election  prevented."  That 
Stanton  was  aware  of  the  program  is  indicated  in  the  following: 

Washington,  January  16,  1861. 
Dear  Sir: 

Your  kind  letter  was  received  this  morning,  and  I  thank  you  for  the 
confidence  and  regard  it  expresses  for  myself.  You  are  right  in  supposing 
it  to  be  my  determination  to  do  everything  in  my  power  to  preserve  and 
maintain  this  Government  and  the  constitution  under  which  the  United 
States  have  been  so  prosperous.  The  means  you  indicate,  I  agree  with  you, 
are  the  proper  ones  for  this  emergency;  and,  as  far  as  it  is  possible,  they 
will  be  exerted. 

I  have  an  abiding  faith  that  this  Government  cannot  be  overthrown; 
that  it  was  ordained  of  God,  and  that  the  powers  of  hell  cannot  prevail 
against  it. 

We  may  have  trouble;  the  city  of  Washington  may  be  captund;  but 
every  effort  will  be  made  to  prevent  that  catastrophe,  and  even  if  it  does 
happen,  the  revolutionists  will  be  as  far  as  ever  from  accomplishing  the 
destruction  of  the  Government,  but  much  nearer  to  their  own  destruction. 

So  far  from  being  indifferent  to  your  advice,  any  suggestion  of  your 
wisdom  and  experience  will  be  thankfully  received.  My  aim  is  to  perform 
my  duty  in  the  post  to  which  I  am  called,  and  I  shall  be  happy  of  any  light 
to  guide  me  in  the  true  path. 

With  the  confidence  and  hope  of  the  future,  I  remain. 

Yours  truly. 
General  William  Robinson.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 


His  efforts  to 'rouse  the  North  and  rehabilitate  the  Govern- 
ment caused  Henry  J.  Raymond  to  write  to  the  New  York  Times: 
"Mr.  Stanton  is  regarded  as  the  backbone  of  the  administration. 
He  is  believed  to  be  at  the  bottom  of  the  new  policy  of  enforcing 
the  laws  which  is  driving  out  the  secessionists."  Thurlow  Weed 
wrote  from  Washington :  "While  I  was  in  the  White  House  I 
looked  over  that  new  Attorney-General  of  ours.  He  is  tremen- 
dous!" The  correspondent  (Horace  White)  of  the  New  York 
Tribjoie  wrote :  "The  marked  change  of  policy  is  felt  in  the  very 
air.    It  is  Stanton." 

On  the  8th  of  January,  Jacob  Thompson  resigned  as  secretary 
of  the  interior  for  the  reason  that,  after  the  order  to  reinforce 
Major  Anderson  had  been  countermanded  (on  December  31)  by 
Buchanan  and  a  distinct  promise  given  that  no  troops  should  be 
sent  into  the  South  before  the  subject  had  been  considered  and  de- 
cided in  the  cabinet,  Secretary  of  War  Holt  had  ordered  two  hun- 


GIGANTIC  BATTLE  FOR  THE  UNION  ,    99 

dred  and  fifty  troops  in  the  Star  of  the  West  to  reinforce  Anderson, 
which  was  in  violation  of  that  agreement.  The  steamer  sailed  from 
New  York  on  January  5,  reached  Charleston  harbor  on  the  9th  early 
in  the  morning,  and  was  lired  upon  by  order  of  Governor  Pickens, 
who  had  been  apprised  of  her  coming  and  was  prepared  for  the  at- 
tack. She  was  forced  to  put  out  to  sea  and  return  to  Fortress  Alon- 
roe. 

This  brings  up  an  illustration  of  Stanton's  foresight.  On  the 
3d  of  January  he  said  to  Holt :  "That  man  from  Mississippi 
[Thompson]  is  betraying  us."  Thompson  had  a  large  personal 
influence  over  the  President  and  was  remaining  in  the  cabinet 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  valuable  information  for  his  Southern 
friends.  On  resigning  and  returning  to  Mississippi,  he  made  an  ad- 
dress to  his  people  in  which  he  confirmed  Stanton's  opinion  of  him. 
"As  I  was  writing  my  resignation,"  he  said,  "I  sent  a  despatch  to 
Judge  Longstreet  that  the  Star  of  the  West  was  coming  with  rein- 
forcements. The  [South  Carolina]  troops  were  thus  put  on  their 
guard  and  when  the  Star  of  the  West  arrived  she  received  a  warm 
welcome  from  booming  cannon,  and  soon  beat  a  retreat.  I  was  re- 
joiced that  the  vessel  was  not  sunk,  but  still  more  rejoiced  that 
the  concealed  trick  conceived  by  General  Scott  and  adopted  by  Sec- 
retary Holt,  but  countermanded  by  the  President  when  too  late,  proved 
a  failure." 

While  several  of  the  Southern  States  that  had  seceded  were 
organizing  and  drilling  militia  and  occupying  Federal  property,  se- 
cession postmasters  continued  to  make  requisitions  for  supplies 
and  postage  stamps.  Before  honoring  these  requisitions  the  Post- 
master-General asked  Stanton  to  define  the  official  status  of  post- 
masters in  seceding  States.  He  advised  that  the  requisitions  be 
honored,  "if  such  postmasters  would  agree  to  obey  existing  postal 
laws  and  hold  themselves  responsible  to  the  Government"  as  be- 
fore, and  the  advice  was  followed.* 

On  January  24  the  United  States  steamer  Brooklyn  sailed  for 
Pensacola  from  Fortress  Monroe  with  a  company  of  artillery  to  re- 
inforce Fort  Pickens.  On  February  6  the  steamer  reached  its  desti- 
nation only  to  meet  a  document  from  Secretaries  Holt  and  Toucey 
countermanding  the  original  orders  and  instructing  Captain  Israel 

*The  postal  service  was  continued  in  the  seceded  States  until  June,  1861, 
the  insurgents  using  it  freely  for  the  destruction  of  the  Government  which 
was  maintaining  it. 


100  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Vogdes  not  to  land  his  troops  or  arms  unless  the  fort  should  be  at- 
tacked, or  preparations  made  for  an  attack.  This  sudden  change  of 
base  was  due  to  the  influence  over  Buchanan  of  Messrs.  Mason, 
Slidell,  and  Hunter,  together  with  that  of  Senator  Mallory,  who 
promised  that  Pickens  should  not  be  attacked  if  the  President  would 
agree  not  to  teinforce  it,  and  he  agreed. 

As  such  a  bargain  was  as  advantageous,  almost,  as  an  actual 
surrender  of  the  fort  to  the  secessionists,  Stanton  "earnestly  op- 
posed it."  He  urged  that  the  South  was  "merely  seeking  time  for 
more  perfect  war  preparations ;  that  if  Pickens  were  not  reinforced 
at  once  it  could  not  be  reinforced  after  hostilities  had  begun  and 
that  the  result  would  be  the  loss  of  the  fort."  His  argument  was 
without  effect,  Buchanan  ordering  Secretaries  Holt  and  Toucey,  in 
writing,  to  send  the  instructions  mentioned. 

On  the  23d  of  January  Ex-President  John  Tyler  arrived  in 
Washington  as  commissioner  from  Virginia,  bearing  the  compro- 
mise resolutions  of  his  State  to  the  President.  Buchanan  received 
him  with  condescension  and  promised  to  make  the  matter  the 
subject  of  a  special  message  to  Congress.  Mr.  Tyler  asked  the  privi- 
lege of  "seeing  and  discussing  the  message  before  its  transmission 
to  Congress,"  and  his  request  was  granted ! 

Stanton  was  dissatisfied  with  that  portion  of  it  which  declared 
that  Congress  alone  possessed  the  power  and  authority  to  act  in 
the  present  emergency,  calling  it  an  "abdication."  Mr.  Tyler,  who 
saw  the  message  before  it  was  seen  by  Stanton  or  any  loyal  cabinet 
officer,  also  combated  the  idea  that  "suddenly  the  President  had 
become  no  president — nothing  but  a  figure-head."  He  said :  "My 
message  is  to  you.  You  are  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and 
navy  in  peace  as  well  as  in  war."  Mr.  Tyler,  however,  did  not  suc- 
ceed in  securing  a  modification  of  the  "abdication" ;  but  subse- 
quently Stanton  did,  the  President  contenting  himself  with  saying 
that  he  had  no  power  to  tie  the  hands  of  Congress,  although  at 
the  same  time  he  asked  that  body  to  "abstain  from  any  and  all  acts 
calculated  to  produce  a  collision  of  arms,"  himself  having  previously 
tied  his  own  hands  by  the  agreement  of  December  9  with  the  South 
Carolina  congressmen  and  the  subsequent  bargain  with  Senator 
Mallory  relative  to  Fort  Pickens. 

In  that  message  he  said  that  it  was  his  "duty  at  all  times  to  de- 
fend and  protect  the  public  property  within  the  seceding  States,  so 


Archbishop  John  Hughes. 


Gen.  1\()i;i;ki   Anderson. 


Gen.  James  A.   Hardie. 


Dr.  Francis  Lieber. 


Col.  Charles  Ellet. 


GIGANTIC  BATTLE  FOR  THE  UNION  101 

far  as  this  may  be  practicable."  To  the  last  sentence  Stanton,  Holt, 
Dix,*  and  Black  firmly  objected.  Stanton  stated  that  the  enforce- 
ment of  laws  and  the  defense  of  public  property  were  "not  matters 
of  caprice  or  of  political  practicability,  but  of  sworn,  mandatory 
duty."  Black  was  positive  in  the  same  direction,  and  the  President 
drew  his  pencil  through  the  sentence.  When,  however,  on  the 
28th,  the  message,  accompanied  by  the  Virginia  resolutions,  was 
read  in  Congress,  the  objectionable  words  had  been  restored! 

In  moving  that  these  documents  be  printed,  Senator  Mason 
of  Virginia  said,  that  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Government 
to  collect  the  revenue  in  the  South  would  be  "an  act  of  war,"  while 
with  the  next  breath  he  declared  that  the  "seizure  by  the  seceding 
States  of  the  arsenals  and  forts  in  the  Gulf  States  was  not  war  but 
merely  an  act  of  necessary  prudence."  At  the  same  time  Senator 
Iverson  of  Georgia  gave  notice  that  his  State  had  abandoned  the 
Union  and  warned  the  Senate  and  the  administration  that  unless  the 
independence  of  the  seceding  States  was  acknowledged  at  once 
'"they  would  keep  all  the  property  in  their  hands  and  never  pay  one 
dollar  of  the  common  public  debt."  He  also  declared  that  "the  first 
Federal  gun,"  no  matter  for  what  purpose,  "would  cancel  every 
public  and  private  debt.  We  do  not  care  in  what  form  you  move 
against  us,  no  matter  whether  it  be  the  collection  of  revenue  or  any 
other,  we  shall  treat  it  as  an  act  of  war."  Iverson's  State  was  al- 
ready out  of  the  Union,  yet  he  was  participating  in  the  Govern- 
ment from  which  he  had  withdrawn  and  against  which  he  himself 
and  his  State  were  in  rebellion! 

On  the  same  day  Jacob  Thompson  and  Senator  Jefferson  Davis 
guaranteed  twenty-four  thousand  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  arms. 
The  record  was  now  too  strong  for  Stanton.  He  demanded  that 
the  senators  and  representatives  from  the  States  which  had  re- 
pudiated and  withdrawn  from  the  Union  be  arrested  and  imprisoned. 
However,  the  Federal  machinery,  the  Federal  courts,  and  the 
Federal  capital  were  so  thoroughly  permeated  with  secession  senti- 
ments, that  effective  steps  to  carry  out  his  ideas  could  not  be  taken. 

On  tlie  8th  day  of  February  the  secession  convention  at  Mont- 
gomery adopted  a  constitution  ;  on  the  9th  elected  and  swore  in  Jef- 

*Thurlow  Weed  says  the  appointment  of  John  A.  Dix,  as  secretary 
of  the  treasury  to  succeed  P.  E.  Thomas,  "was  brought  about  by  Edwin  M. 
Stanton,  who,  alarmed  at  the  state  of  things  in  the  cabinet,  was  anxious 
to  bring  a  loyal  Democrat  from  the  North  into  the  Treasury  Department." 


102  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

ferson  Davis  to  be  "president,"  and  Alexander  H.  Stephens  to  be 
"vice-president"  of  the  "Confederate  States  of  America,"  and  fixed 
the  18th  as  the  day  for  their  inauguration. 

Stanton  received  a  program  of  the  proposed  installation  cere- 
monies from  his  friend  Judge  Archibald  Roane  of  Alabama.  Read- 
ing it  in  cabinet  consultation,  he  exclaimed :  "Such  a  proceeding 
cannot  be  permitted  to  take  place  within  the  confines  of  this  nation. 
It  is  not  a  mock  affair,  but  an  earnest  and  desperate  effort  to  break 
up  this  Union.  It  is  just  as  much  our  duty  to  save  the  country  from 
destruction  by  slave-holding  John  Browns  as  by  abolition  John 
Browns." 

Buchanan  replied:  "It  is  now  too  late;  we  are  helpless,"  to 
which  Stanton  retorted : 

It  is  never  too  late  to  save  the  country.  We  are  not  helpless.  If  we 
supinely  permit  some  upstart  to  be  elected  and  inaugurated  as  presi- 
dent at  Montgomery,  we  shall  have  to  permit  the  same  performance  here 
in  Washington,  if  undertaken.  If  we  permit  the  secessionists  to  seize 
the  Federal  property  and  archives  in  South  Carolina  and  Alabama,  shall 
we  not  be  obliged  to  permit  them  to  seize  and  use  the  Federal  buildings 
and  records  here  in  Washington?  Would  you,  Mr.  President,  abdicate 
if  Davis  should  come,  which  he  may  do,  and  demand  possession  of  the 
White  House?  Shall  we  offer  no  resistance  if  the  secessionists  come  here 
and  attempt  to  seize  the  public  records?  If  we  do  not  resist  them  there, 
we  cannot  resist  them  here.  If  you  would  not  abdicate  in  Washington, 
you  cannot  abdicate  in  Charleston  or  Montgomery.  Mr.  President,  there 
must  be  no  so-called  inauguration  of  another  presidem  while  you  occupy 
that  high  office,  nei'er,  never.' 

Buchanan  was  unmoved  and  those  who  had  concocted  a  plot 
to  prevent  the  electoral  count  on  February  15  and  the  inauguration 
of  President  Lincoln  on  March  4,  were  allowed  to  inaugurate  their 
own  so-called  president  on  February  18  without  even  a  protest  from 
the  Government.  Not  only  so,  but  immediately  after  the  Confed- 
erate inauguration,  Buchanan,  circumventing  the  Union  members 
of  his  cabinet,  sent  a  communication  by  R.  M.  T.  Himter  advising 
Jefferson  Davis  to  despatch  commissioners  to  Washington  and  he 
"would  be  happy  to  receive  them"  and  transmit  their  wishes  to 
Congress!  Davis  testifies  that  he  acted  on  that  advice  and  sent  a 
commissioner  (M.  J.  Crawford)  who,  however,  was  unable  to  reach 
Washington  until  "too  late  to  accomplish  anything." 

More  than  once  Stanton  informed  the  President  that  active 
proceedings  against  the  Government  certainly  must  be  stopped. 
The  reply  Avas  that  the  army  and  navy  were  in  such  a  crippled  con- 


GIGANTIC  BATTLE  FOR  THE  UNION  103 

dition  that  nothing  could  be  done.  In  answer  he  urged  the  Presi- 
dent to  ask  Congress  to  strengthen  the  army  and  make  it  adequate 
to  threatened  emergencies,  but  without  results.  He  thereupon 
went  in  person  to  his  cousin,  Benjamin  Stanton  (of  Ohio),  chair- 
man of  the  House  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  and  begged  him 
to  forthwith  report  a  bill  for  an  immediate  increase  in  the  number 
and  equipment  of  the  military  forces.  His  cousin  complied,  but  the 
Democrats  largely  opposed  the  measure,  saying  that  if  there  were 
any  real  necessity  for  increasing  the  military  strength  of  the  country 
the  President  himself  would  urge  Congress  to  do  it ! 

And  thus  was  chaos  added  to  chaos,  weakness  to  weakness,  and 
the  pathway  to  civil  strife  made  broader  and  shorter. 

On  the  5th  of  March  Stanton  became  a  private  citizen.  His  po- 
sition had  been  one  of  extreme  difficulty.  Before  he  came  into  the 
cabinet  secession  moved  forward  with  glee.  To  its  leaders  suc- 
cess appeared  inevitable.*  The  President  was  in  their  confidence 
and  indirectly  contributing  to  their  labors.  William  M.  Boyce  of 
Garfield,  Virginia,  one  of  the  South  Carolina  congressmen,  who, 
on  December  9,  1860,  made  the  written  bargain  with  Buchanan 
at  the  end  of  several  preliminary  interviews,  says :  "Both  the  con- 
duct and  bearing  of  the  President  were  and  had  been  such  as  to 
make  us  feel  sure  of  his  sympathy  and  cooperation."  The  adminis- 
tration organ,  the  Washington  Constitution,  lauded  secession  inces- 
santly from  the  moment  Lincoln's  election  became  known ;  called 
upon  the  South  to  "awaken  and  redress  her  wrongs,"  and  demanded 
that  Lincoln  resign,  receiving  the  while  the  support  of  Buchanan, 
who  diverted  to  its  disloyal  columns  the  entire  stream  of  Govern- 
ment advertising! 

Thus,  there  was  every  reason  for  the  secessionists,  having  sub- 
stantial aid  from  Buchanan  and  the  North,  to  anticipate  victory, 
and  if  Stanton  had  not  entered  the  cabinet   and   clung  to  it  and 


*Says  General  M.  C.  Meigs:  "In  January,  1861,  when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jef- 
ferson Davis  left  Washington  for  the  South,  they  rode  together  to  give 
notice  that  they  wished  to  retain  their  pew  in  Epiphany  Episcopal 
Church.  As  they  turned  to  go  Mrs.  Davis  said  with  a  confident  smile:  'You 
keep  the  cushion,  too,  for  we  shall  need  it  soon — when  we  come  back.'  Mr. 
Davis  added:  'Yes,  keep  the  cushion  for  us  till  we  return.'  And  so  they  left 
us  fully  expecting  to  be  back  here  within  a  brief  period  at  the  head  of  a 
nation  which,  in  the  meantime,  they  had  broken  in  twain  and  reunited  on  a 
new  basis." 


104  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

fought  in  it  to  the  end  in  spite  of  indignities,  disagreements,  false 
hopes,  false  words,  betrayals,  and  broken  promises,  the  Federal 
capital  and  its  archives  and  the  machinery  of  the  Government 
would  have  fallen  into  their  hands  as  planned ;  and  Jefiferson  Davis 
instead  of  Abraham  Lincoln  would  have  been  inaugurated  in  Wash- 
ington and  perhaps,  as  was  hoped,  without  bloodshed ! 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
LETTERS  TO  BUCHANAN— LINCOLN  EXCORIATED. 

As  he  returned  to  Wheatland  (near  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania), 
after  the  inauguration  of  Lincoln,  Buchanan  requested  Stanton  to 
supply  a  record  of  the  course  of  public  events  by  means  of  a  sys- 
tematic correspondence.  The  letters  w^ritten  in  response  to  this 
request  were  sent  generally  by  mail,  but  sometimes  confided  to  per- 
sonal messengers.  As,  in  July,  August,  and  September,  1861,  many 
letters  failed  to  reach  their  destination,  the  correspondence  for  that 
reason  was  discontinued  altogether. 

These  entirely  private  communications,*  composed  in  the  ut- 
most freedom  and  confidence,  have  been  savagely  criticized  because 
of  the  severity  with  which  they  describe  the  initial  operations  of  the 
Lincoln  administration,  but  the  absolute  truth  of  their  essential 
statements  cannot  be  denied. 

The  first  letter  mentions  that  Stanton  was  requested  by  W.  H. 
Seward,  secretary  of  state  in  Lincoln's  cabinet,  to  draft  a  nomina- 
tion of  John  J.  Crittenden,  a  Democratic  senator  from  Kentucky,  to 
be  a  justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  with  which  request 
he  says  he  complied.  Lincoln  desired  to  reward  Crittenden  for 
his  "compromise"  resolution,  which  proposed  the  absurd  plan  of 
prohibiting  slavery  forever  north  and  granting  it  forever  south  of 
36°,  30',  and  binding  Congress  forever  from  interfering  with  this 
hybrid  arrangement ;  but  there  was  such  an  outcry  of  opposition 
to  the  nomination  that  Stanton's  draft  was  never  sent  to  the  Senate. 

In  the  same  letter  he  discussed  General  Scott's  "Comments" 
on  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Moultrie,  saying,  among  other  things : 

The  third  point  relates  to  what  General  Scott  calls  an  informal  truce 
entered  into  by  you  [Buchanan]  with  certain  persons  from  the  seceding 
States  under  which  the  reinforcement  of  Fort  Sumter  and  Fort  Pickens 
was  suspended.     My  recollection  of  that  transaction  is  that  General  Scott 


♦Published  nearly  in  full  in  George  Ticknor  Curtis's  Life  of  Buchanan. 


106  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON. 

and  Mr.  Holt  concurred  with  you  in  that  arrangement  which,  when  proposed 
in  cabinet,  was  opposed  by  Judge  Black  and  myself. 

He  also  makes  a  further  disclosure  concerning  the  matter: 

In  his  conversation  with  me  Mr.  Seward  mentioned  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
and  his  cabinet,  when  this  subject  came  up.  would  desire  me  to  be  present 
and  also  Mr.  Holt.  I  told  him  that  if  all  of  the  late  cabinet  were  re- 
quested to  be  present  I  would  have  no  objection;  but  I  did  not  think  it 
proper  unless  all  were  present.  He  said  that  of  course  the  invitation 
would  be  extended  to  all.  As  I  never  heard  anything  more  on  the  subject, 
I  suppose  they  have  found  it  necessary  to  consult  only  Mr.  Holt,  who  con- 
tinues acting  as  secretary  of  war. 

In  his  letter  of  March  14,  he  predicted  that  if  the  Lincoln  ad- 
ministration should  continue  four  years,  changes  would  be  made 
in  the  Supreme  Court  which  would  "affect  its  constitutional  doc- 
trines." In  December  following,  Senator  J.  P.  Hale  presented  a 
resolution  in  Congress  ordering  an  inquiry  into  "the  expediency  of 
abolishing  the  present  Supreme  Court"  and  "creating  a  new  one" 
to  take  its  place.  The  effort  failed,  but  its  inception  proves  that 
Stanton  was  taking  a  remarkably  accurate  measure  of  the  influences 
which  were  to  shape  future  events. 

His  letter  of  April  11  contains  the  following: 

There  is  great  "soldiering"  in  town  the  last  two  days.  The  yard  in 
front  of  the  War  Office  is  crowded  with  District  militia  who  are  being 
mustered  into  service.  The  feeling  of  loyalty  to  the  Government  has  greatly 
diminished  in  this  city.  Many  persons  who  would  have  supported  the  Gov- 
ernment under  your  administration  refuse  to  be  enrolled.  Many  who 
were  enrolled  have  withdrawn,  and  refuse  to  take  the  oath. 

The  administration  has  not  acquired  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
the  people  here.  Not  one  of  the  cabinet  or  principal  officers  has  taken  a 
house  or  brought  his  family  here.  Seward  rented  a  home  "while  he  should 
continue  in  the  cabinet,"  but  has  not  opened  it,  nor  has  his  family  come. 
They  all  act  as  though  they  meant  to  be  ready  to  "cut  and  run"  at  a  min- 
ute's notice.  Their  tenure  is  like  that  of  a  Bedouin  on  the  sands  of  the 
desert.  This  is  sensibly  felt  and  talked  about  by  the  people  in  the  city, 
and  they  feel  no  confidence  in  an  administration  that  betrays  so  much  in- 
security. And  besides,  a  strong  feeling  of  distrust  in  the  candor  and 
sincerity  of  Lincoln  personally  and  of  his  cabinet  has  sprung  up.  If  they 
had  been  merely  silent  and  secret  there  might  have  been  no  grounds  of  com- 
plaint. But  assurances  are  said  to  have  been  given  and  declarations  made 
in  conflict  with  the  facts  now  transpiring  in  respect  to  the  South,  so  that  no 
one  speaks  of  Lincoln  or  any  member  of  his  cabinet  with  respect  and  re- 
gard. 


LETTERS  TO  BUCHANAN— LINCOLN  EXCORIATED         107 

The  facts  about  Sumter  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain,  for  the  reasons 
that  have  been  mentioned,  for  no  one  knows  what  to  believe.  The  near- 
est conjecture  I  can  form  is  this: 

First — That  the  Baltic  has  been  sent  with  provisions  for  Sumter; 

Second — That  the  Powhattan  has  been  sent  with  forces  to  land  and  attack 
the  battery; 

Third — That  a  secret  expedition,  independent  of  General  Scott,  has 
been  sent,  under  charge  of  [Captain  G.  V.]  Fox  to  make  an  effort  to  land  in 
the  night  at  Sumter. 

The  refusal  of  Governor  Pickens  to  admit  Captain  Talbot  to  Sumter 
may  prevent  concert  of  action  with  Major  Anderson,  and  I  think  the  whole 
will  prove  a  failure.  There  is  no  excitement  here.  People  are  anxious,  but 
the  sensational  telegrams  sent  from  here  are  without  foundation.  It  is 
true,  however,  that  Ben  McCulloch*  has  been  here  on  a  scouting  expe- 
dition, and  he  carefully  examined  all  the  barracks  and  military  posts  in  the 
city,  and  said  he  expected  to  be  in  possession  of  the  city  before  long.  He 
stayed  all  night  at  Dr.  Gwin's.  This  has  a  business  aspect.  It  is  believed 
that  a  secession  ordinance  will  be  passed  in  the  Virginia  convention  to-day. 

The  Dr.  Gwin  above  referred  to  is  W.  M.  Gwin,  a  man  of  re- 
markable energy  and  ability,  whose  term  as  United  States  senator 
from  California  had  just  expired. 

In  his  letter  of  May  16,  Stanton  mentions  that  Franklin  Square, 
on  which  his  house  fronted,  had  been  filled  with  soldiers  and  hos- 
pitals and  he  had  therefore  moved  his  family — Mrs.  Stanton  being 
in  delicate  health  and  affected  by  the  uproar — to  a  rented  house 
on  H  Street. 

His  letter  of  May  19,  in  full,  is  as  follows : 

You  will  see  in  the  New  York  papers  Judge  Campbell's  reportf  of  the 
negotiations  between  himself  and  Mr.  Seward,  to  which  I  referred  in  my 
letter  of  last  week.  They  had  been  related  to  me  by  the  Judge  about  the 
time  they  closed. 


♦McCulloch  was  selected  to  lead  the  raid  planned  for  the  capture  of 
Washington  and  its  archives  on  February  15,  previous  to  the  "constitutional 
declaration"  of  Lincoln's  election,  which,  on  exposure,  was  abandoned.  On 
February  16,  in  collusion  with  its  commander,  General  D.  E.  Twiggs,  he 
seized  the  United  States  fort  at  San  Antonio,  Texas,  with  all  its  arms  and 
treasure. 


tjustice  J.  A.  Campbell,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  who  conducted  the  nego- 
tiations between  the  Lincoln  administration  and  the  Confederate  commis- 
sioners, and  transmitted  to  the  latter  the  Washington  pledges  of  non-inter- 
vention which  were  not  kept,  made  a  formal  report  to  Jefferson  Davis  in 
order  to  clear  himself  from  the  imputation  of  having  been  a  party  to  "dip- 
lomatic chicanery." — See  Confederate  records. 


108  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Mr.  Seward's  silence  will  not  relieve  him  from  the  imputation  of  de- 
ceit and  double-dealing  in  the  minds  of  many,  though  I  do  not  believe  it 
can  justly  be  imputed  to  him.  I  have  no  doubt  he  believed  Sumter  would 
be  evacuated,  as  he  stated  it  would  be;  but  the  war  party  overruled  him 
with  Lincoln,  and  he  was  forced  to  give  up,  but  he  could  not  give  up  his 
ofifiice.  That  is  a  sacrifice  no  Republican  will  be  apt  to  make.  But  this 
correspondence  shows  that  Mr.  Frederick  W.  Seward  was  not  in  the  line 
of  truth  when  he  said  that  "negotiations  ceased  on  the  fourth  of  March." 

The  New  York  Evening  Post  is  very  severe  on  Judge  Campbell,  and 
very  unjustly  so,  for  the  Judge  has  been  as  anxiously  and  patriotically 
earnest  to  preserve  the  Government  as  any  man  in  the  United  States,  and 
he  has  sacrificed  more  than  any  other  Southern  man  rather  than  yield  to  the 
secessionists.  I  regret  the  treatment  he  has  received  from  Mr.  Seward  and 
the  Post^ 

Nothing  new  has  transpired  here  since  my  last  letter.  I  am  convinced 
that  an  attack  will  be  made  and  a  battle  fought  for  this  city  before  long. 

In  his  letter  of  Jttly  16  Stanton  urged  Buchanan  not  to  publish 
at  that  heated  period  the  volume  (popularly  known  as  "Buchan- 
an's Defense")  prepared  by  himself  in  defense  of  his  administra- 
tion, as,  if  it  should  have  any  effect,  it  would  be  that  of  inciting  still 
further  attack,  and  declared: 

So  far,  however,  as  your  administration  is  concerned,  its  policy  in 
reference  to  both  Sumter  and  Pickens  [which  Stanton  strenuously  opposed] 
is  fully  vindicated  by  the  course  of  the  present  administration. 

For  forty  days  after  the  inauguration  of  Lincoln  no  use  was  made  of 
the  means  that  had  been  prepared  for  reinforcing  Sumter.* 

A  Republican  senator  informed  me  a  short  time  ago  that  General  Scott 
personally  urged  him  to  consent  to  the  evacuation  of  both  Sumter  and 
Pickens;  and  it  is  a  fact  of  general  notoriety,  published  in  all  the  papers 
at  the  time  and  never  contradicted,  that  not  only  the  General,  but  other 
military  men  who  were  consulted,  were  in  favor  of  that  measure.  Whatever 
may  be  said  of  Bennett's  malignity  now,  I  think  that  the  public  will  be  dis- 
posed to  do  full  justice  to  your  efforts  to  avert  the  calamity  of  civil  war; 
and  every  month  for  a  long  time  to  come  will,  I  am  afraid,  furnish  fresh 
evidence  of  the  magnitude  of  that  calamity. 

*Says  General  John  E.  Wool:  "When  Mr.  Stanton  left  the  Buchanan 
cabinet,  such  ships  as  we  possessed  had  been  brought  to  our  shores  and 
were  ready  for  orders  and  the  arms  and  munitions  of  war  in  every  ar- 
senal in  the  North  had  been  inspected  and  were  at  the  doors  ready  for 
instant  shipment.  It  was  supposed  that  the  new  administration  would  want 
to  have  in  a  condition  of  immediate  availability  all  our  machinery  for 
national  defense  and  would  at  once  put  it  to  use.  When  Mr.  Stanton  found 
that  in  this  he  had  been  mistaken,  he  was  more  angry  with  Lincoln  than  he 
ever  had  been  with  Buchanan  or  Buchanan's  secession  advisers,  because  he 
supposed  that  Lincoln  was  embarrassed  by  no  secession  entanglements 
and  would  act  decisively  to  save  the  Union." 


James  M.  .Mas(;.\. 


LETTERS  TO  BUCHANAN— LINCOLN  EXCORIATED         109 

The  last  of  the  letters  that  reached  Buchanan  is  dated  July  26. 
Since  it  is  the  one  which  has  been  most  severely  criticized,  it  is 
given  (the  formal  opening  and  closing  paragraphs  omitted)  in  full : 

The  dreadful  disaster  of  Sunday  [Battle  of  Bull  Run]  can  scarcely  be 
mentioned.  The  imbecility  of  this  administration  has  culminated  in  that 
catastrophe,  and  irretrievable  misfortune  and  national  disgrace  are  to  be 
added  to  the  ruin  of  all  peaceful  pursuits  and  national  bankruptcy  as  the 
result  of  Lincoln's  "running  the  mashine"  for  five  months. 

You  perceive  that  Bennett  is  for  a  change  in  the  cabinet,  and  proposes 
for  one  of  the  new  cabinet  Mr.  Holt,  whose  opposition  to  Bennett's  ap- 
pointment* was  so  bitter  and  intensely  hostile.  It  is  not  unlikely  that 
some  changes  in  the  War  and  Navy  Departments  may  take  place,  but  none 
beyond  these  two  Departments  until  Jefferson  Davis  turns  out  the  whole 
concern. t  The  capture  of  Washington  seems  to  be  inevitable.  During 
the  whole  of  Monday  and  Tuesday  it  might  have  been  taken  without  re- 
sistance. The  rout,  overthrow,  and  utter  demoralization  of  the  whole  army 
is  complete.  Even  now  I  doubt  whether  any  serious  opposition  to  the  en- 
trance of  the  Confederate  forces  would  be  offered.  While  Lincoln,  Scott, 
and  the  cabinet  are  disputing  as  to  who  is  to  blame,  the  city  is  unguarded 
and  the  enemy  at  hand. 

General  McClellan  reached  here  last  evening.  But,  if  he  had  the  ability 
of  Caesar,  Alexander,  or  Napoleon,  what  can  he  accomplish?  Will  not 
Scott's  jealousy,  cabinet  intrigues,  and  Republican  interference  thwart 
him  at  every  step?  While  hoping  for  the  best,  I  cannot  shut  my  eyes 
against  the  dangers  that  beset  the  Government,  and  especially  this  city. 

Chaos,  secret  negotiations,  and  indecision  prevailed  at  Wash- 
ington ;  and  feebleness  and  longing  for  justification  at  Wheatland. 
Stanton  gathered  the  crop  as  it  grew  and  served  it  to  suit  the 
palate  and  condition  of  his  distinguished  correspondent.  The  new 
administration  was  drifting,  dodging,  and  negotiating  precisely  as 
Buchanan  had  done,  which  meant  dissolution  of  the  Union  without 
resistance ;  and,  although  he  detested  such  a  course,  and  studiously 
refrained  from  expressing  in  his  letters  a  direct  opinion  about  it, 

*James  Gordon  Bennett,  of  the  New  York  Herald,  desired  the  appoint- 
ment of  Minister  to  France. 


fGeneral  L.  T.  Wigfall  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Washington,  who  dis- 
closed the  communication  to  Stanton,  that  the  Confederate  plan  was  to  mass 
100,000  men  on  the  Potomac  and,  when  perfectly  prepared,  to  capture 
the  Federal  capital.  President  Lincoln  and  all,  by  a  sudden  descent 
and  then,  if  necessary,  march  on  to  Philadelphia.  The  indications  at  that 
moment  were  that  the  plan  could  be  successfully  executed.  A  steamer  was 
tied  at  the  wharf  ready  to  flee  with  Lincoln  if  Lee  should  enter  the  city  as 
planned. 


no  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Stanton  was  bound  to  exploit  the  fact  as  a  "Republican  vindication" 
of  the  wretched  policy  of  his  former  chief. 

To  others  he  wrote  the  real  feelings  of  his  heart,  as  is  amply 
shown  by  the  following: 

Washington,  June  11,  1861. 
My  dear  Sir: 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  know  that  in  the  midst  of  arduous  duties 
you  still  bear  me  in  kind  remembrance.  The  meeting  of  the  24th  of  April 
in  New  York  has  become  a  national  epoch;  for  it  was  a  manifestation  of 
patriotic  feeling  beyond  any  example  in  history.  To  that  meeting,*  the 
courage  it  inspired,  and  the  organized  action  it  produced,  this  Government 
will  owe  its  salvation,  if  it  can  be  saved.  To  the  general  gratification  at 
your  position  as  chairman  of  the  Union  Committee,  there  has  been  added 
in  my  breast  a  feeling  of  security  and  succor  that  until  that  time  was  un- 
known. 

No  one  can  imagine  the  deplorable  condition  of  this  city  and  the 
hazard  of  the  Government  who  did  not  witness  the  weakness  and  panic  of 
the  administration,  and  the  painful  imbecility  of  Lincoln.  We  looked  to 
New  York  in  that  dark  hour  as  our  only  deliverance  under  Providence, 
and,  thank  God,  it  came. 

The  uprising  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  maintain  their  Gov- 
ernment and  crush  the  Rebellion  has  been  so  grand,  so  mighty  in  every  ele- 
ment, that  I  feel  it  a  blessing  to  be  alive  and  witness  it! 

The  action  of  your  city  especially  filled  me  with  admiration,  and  proves 
the  right  of  New  York  to  be  called  the  Empire  City.  But  the  picture 
has  a  dark  side — dark  and  terrible — from  the  corruption  that  surrounds  the 
War  Department,  and  seems  to  poison  with  venomous  breath  the  very  at- 
mosphere. 

Millions  of  New  York  capital,  the  time,  strength,  and  perhaps  lives  of 
thousands  of  patriotic  citizens  will  be  wasted  to  gorge  a  ravenous  crew. 

On  every  side  the  Government  and  the  soldiers  are  pillaged.  Arms, 
clothing,  transportation,  provisions,  are  each  and  all  subjects  of  specula- 
tionf  and  spoil.  On  one  side  the  waves  of  treason  and  rebellion  are  dash- 
ing; on  the  other  is  the  yawning  gulf  of  national  bankruptcy. 


*A  great  non-partisan   gathering  at  which   large   sums   of  money   and 
all  other  forms  of  aid  were  pledged  to  the   Government. 


fA  few  days  previously  a  descent  was  made  on  t"he  records  in  all  tele- 
graph offices,  by  which  a  great  network  of  treasonable  and  corrupt  prac- 
tises was  disclosed.  It  involved  thousands  of  persons  in  high  public  and 
private  stations  theretofore  supposed  to  be  loyal,  and  was  calculated  to 
sicken  and  discourage  the  strongest  patriots.  L.  T.  Wigfall  of  Texas  left 
the  United  States  Senate,  opened  recruiting  offices  in  Baltimore  and  Wash- 
ington, under  Confederate  commissions,  and  by  March  16  was  telegraphing 
to  General  Beauregard  with  unmolested  freedom,  from  Washington,  con- 
cerning his  recruits  and  the  means  of  transporting  them  to  the  South — an 
astonishing  historical  fact! 


LETTERS  TO  BUCHANAN— LINCOLN  EXCORL\TED         ill 

Our  cause  is  the  greatest  that  any  generation  of  men  was  ever  called 
upon  to  uphold.  It  would  seem  to  be  God's  cause,  and  must  triumph.  But 
when  we  witness  the  venality  and  corruption  growing  in  power  every  day 
and  controlling  the  millions  of  money  that  should  be  a  patriotic  sacrifice 
for  national  deliverance,  and  threatening  the  treasure  of  the  nation  as  a 
booty  to  be  divided  among  thieves,  hope  dies  away. 

Deliverance  from  this  danger  also  must  come  from  New  York.  Those 
who  are  unwilling  to  see  blood  shed,  lives  lost,  treasure  wasted  in  vain, 
must  take  speedy  measures  to  reform  the  evil  before  it  is  too  late. 

Of  military  affairs,  I  can  form  no  judgment.  Every  day  affords  fresh 
proof  of  the  design  to  give  the  war  a  party  direction.  The  army  appoint- 
ments appear  (with  two  or  three  exceptions  only)  to  be  bestowed  on  per- 
sons whose  only  claim  is  their  Republicanism — broken-down  politicians 
without  experience,  ability,  or  any  other  merit.  Democrats  are  rudely 
repulsed  and  scowled  upon  with  jealous  and  ill-concealed  aversion.  The 
Western  Democracy  are  already  becoming  disgusted,  and  between  the 
corruption  of  some  of  the  Republican  leaders  and  the  self-seeking  am- 
bition of  others,  some  great  disaster  may  soon  befall  the  nation.  How  long 
will  the  Democracy  of  New  York  tolerate  these  things? 

The  navy  is  in  a  state  of  hopeless  imbecility,  and  it  is  believed  to  be 
far  from  being  purged  of  the  treachery  that  has  already  occasioned  so 
much  shame  and  dishonor. 

In  respect  to  domestic  affairs,  Mrs.  Stanton  and  I  hoped  to  visit  New 
York  last  month,  but  the  critical  state  of  affairs  made  it  hazardous  to  leave 
our  children,  and  we  cannot  take  them  with  us.  With  the  enemy  still  at  our 
gates  we  cannot  venture  to  leave  home.  We  hoped  to  see  you  here,  es- 
pecially after  you  had  received  the  appointment  of  major-general.  But 
now  that  the  administration  has  got  over  its  panic,  you  are  not  the  kind 
of  a  man  that  would  be  welcome. 

There  are  many  details  that  I  could  give  you  in  regard  to  proceedings 
here,  but  it  is  painful  to  think  of  them  and  to  write  them  down  would  be 
a  tedious  and  disgusting  task.  I  hope  our  cause  may  triumph  despite  the 
low  passions  and  mean  intellects  that  now  weigh  it  down.  But  whatever 
may  be  our  fate,  I  shall  always  be  happy  to  be  your  esteemed  friend.  Mrs. 
Stanton  and  our  pet  are  well,  and  join  in  expressions  of  regard. 

Yours  truly. 
The  Honorable  John  A.  Dix.  E.  M.  Stanton. 

The  foregoing  is  a  Stanton  letter,  not  a  Buchanan  letter.  It 
is  not  guarded  and  halting,  speaking  gingerly  of  "policy,"  "vindi- 
cation," and  "defense,"  but  heroic,  virile,  and  patriotic,  disclosing 
the  real  Stanton,  the  Hercules  who  had  turned  the  ship  about  in 
the  midst  of  the  storm  and  rescued  it  at  the  brink  of  disunion.  It 
is  the  Stanton,  who,  having  advised  Seward  on  March  5,  the  day 
following  the  inauguration,  that  "everything  the  Government  pos- 
sesses for  the  defense  has  been  put  in  shape  for  instant  use," 
was  disgusted  and  angry  because  Lincoln  made  no  attempt  "for 


112  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

forty  days,"  as  he  says  in  one  of  the  foregoing  letters,  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  that  preparation,  during  every  moment  of  which  delay 
secession  was  gaining  in  strength  and  the  Confederacy  increasing 
its  store  of  war  mimitions  and  its  enlistment  of  soldiers.  It  is  the 
Stanton  who,  having  pointed  out  to  Seward  that  while  Buchanan 
had  been  without  popular  backing  (the  Democratic  party  in  the 
North  divided,  the  Republican  party  solidly  hostile,  and  the  South 
withdrawn  into  secession)  Lincoln  had  firm  ground  on  which  to 
stand  and  ought  to  take  decisive  steps  to  preserve  national  integrity, 
yet  saw  with  alarm  and  indignation  no  steps  taken,  no  affirmative 
eflfort  put  forth  to  rescue  the  Union.  It  is  the  Stanton  who  had 
protested  aggressively  against  Buchanan's  secret  negotiations  with 
secession  agents  and  put  a  stop  to  them.  It  is  the  Stanton  who  had 
heard  the  Republican  party  unanimously  denouncing  the  negotia- 
tions with  secession  commissioners  as  one  "tainting  the  outgoing 
administration  with  treason"  and  then  beheld  Lincoln,  while  do- 
ing nothijig  to  reinforce  the  Southern  forts,  taking  up  anew,  through 
his  own  law  partner  (Ward  H.  Lamon)  and  a  justice  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  (John  A.  Campbell)  the  tainting  threads  of 
a  more  offensive,  humiliating,  and  formal  negotiation  with  the 
Confederacy  than  any  he  had  forced  Buchanan  to  drop. 

But  why  amplify?  The  essential  averments  of  these  letters  to 
Buchanan  and  Dix  are  amply  sustained  by  public  records  and  fully 
establish :  (1)  That  an  "arrangement"  was  "negotiated"  between 
Buchanan  and  "certain  persons  from  seceding  States  under  which 
the  reinforcement  of  Sumter  and  Pickens  was  suspended" ;  (2)  That 
this  arrangement  was  denounced  and  "vehemently  opposed"  by 
Stanton  as  attorney-general ;  (3)  That  Lincoln  resumed  and  broad- 
ened the  "negotiations"  with  the  secessionists  which  his  party  had 
characterized  as  treason  on  the  part  of  Buchanan ;  (4)  That  the 
Lincoln  administration  repeatedly  and  in  writing  pledged  the  Con- 
federates that  Sumter  would  not  be  reinforced  but  should  be  evacu- 
ated, and  broke  the  pledge ;  (5)  That  Stanton's  characterizations 
of  these  acts  and  of  the  administration  (not  excluding  the  one  alleg- 
ing the  "painful  imbecility  of  Lincoln")  were  at  that  moment  war- 
ranted;  and  finally,  (6)  That  when  he  denounced  the  opening  oper- 
ations of  the  Lincoln  administration  at  the  same  time  that  he  de- 
scribed them  as  a  "continuation"  of  Buchanan's  idea,  he  condemned 
Buchanan  in  the  most  diplomatic  and  unanswerable  way  known  to 
correspondence. 


LETTERS  TO  BUCHANAN— LINCOLN  EXCORIATED         113 

These  letters  are,  in  short,  ample  evidence  from  within  that  in 
the  times  of  Buchanan  and  Lincoln,  when  others  were  doubting, 
drifting,  negotiating,  and  prevaricating,  he  entertained  clear  and 
solid  notions  of  the  sufficient  powers  of  the  Government  to  meet  the 
perilous  crisis  into  which  it  was  being  rushed  and  to  defend  its  life, 
and  was  full  of  wrath  against  those  who,  sworn  to  administer  its 
affairs  and  preserve  its  integrity,  were  too  weak,  or  too  much 
tainted,  or  too  cowardly  to  perform  the  great  tasks  which  con- 
fronted them. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
RESUMES  THE  LAW— APPOINTED  WAR  MINISTER. 

While  the  preceding  correspondence  was  passing,  Stanton  re- 
sumed the  practise  of  his  profession,  his  first  cases  of  importance 
coming  from  C.  H.  McCormick,  against  whom,  for  years  hitherto, 
he  had  been  successfully  contending.  The  reaper  business  had 
grown  to  enormous  proportions  in  America  and  Europe,  and  Mc- 
Cormick wanted  his  patents  of  1845  and  1847  extended  to  pro- 
tect it. 

During  the  argument  on  these  extension  cases,  which  is  still 
remembered  in  Washington,  Stanton  formulated  his  famous  tribute 
to  McCormick,  whose  "services  to  mankind  and  civilization,"  he 
said,  were  "vastly  beyond  those  of  aggrandizers  and  conquerors. 
His  were  the  beneficent  and  everlasting  victories  of  peace,  and  the 
world  owed  to  their  author  an  adequate  reward."  For  illustration  he 
showed  upon  the  map  how  "McCormick's  invention  in  Virginia, 
thirty  years  before,  had  carried  permanent  civilization  westward 
more  than  fifty  miles  a  year."  For  further  illustration  he  referred 
to  the  Rebellion  then  sweeping  over  the  country  and  filling  the  air 
with  shout  and  shock  and  the  alternating  reports  of  victory  and 
defeat  and  declared : 

The  reaper  is  as  important  to  the  North  as  slavery  to  the  South.  It 
takes  the  place  of  the  regiments  of  young  men  who  have  left  the  harvest 
fields  to  do  battle  for  the  Union,  and  thus  enables  the  farmers  to  keep 
up  the  supply  of  bread  for  the  nation  and  its  armies.  McCormick's  inven- 
tion will  aid  materially  to  prevent  the  Union  from  dismemberment,  and 
to  grant  his  prayer  herein  is  the  smallest  compensation  the  Government 
can  make. 

But  it  was  too  late.  His  own  previous  efiforts  against  McCor- 
mick had  charged  public  sentiment  with  great  hostility,  and  the 
desired  extension  was  not  granted. 

In  the  meantime,  while  acting  as  attorney  for  General  Scott 
and  Secretary  Cameron,  he  was  also  confidential  counsel  for  Gen- 


RESUMES  THE  LAW— APPOINTED  WAR  MINISTER        115 

eral  John  A.  Dix.  Almost  immediately  after  Dix  (who  had  been 
secretary  of  the  treasury  in  Buchanan's  cabinet)  was  appointed 
major-general  and  stationed  at  Baltimore,  his  forces  were  detached 
and  he  was  left  with  practically  no  command  beyond  his  staff.  The 
newspapers  commented  with  severity  on  this  treatment  of  a  distin- 
guished patriot,  and  finally  Dix  himself  asked  Stanton  to  learn 
from  the  Secretary  of  War  "why  he  had  been  side-tracked  in  such 
a  humiliating  manner."  Stanton,  in  his  reply,  dated  September  9, 
1861,  stated: 

After  a  week  of  unsuccessful  effort,  I  obtained  last  evening  an  inter- 
view with  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  exhibited  to  him  your  letter  with  Ad- 
jutant-General Thomas's  endorsement  thereon,  and  made  the  inquiry  you  de- 
sired. He  answered  that  he  could  not  certainly  tell  whether  he  had  ever  seen 
the  paper  before,  but  rather  thought  not;  that  he  had  not  made  any  order 
on  the  subject  (though  it  is  probable  he  may  have  done  so  and  forgotten  it) 
and  that  if  he  did  make  the  order  it  was  from  information  by  the  Adjutant- 
General. 

He  further  said  that  if  you  desired  he  would  submit  the  question  to 
General  Scott  and  act  according  to  his  opinion;  and  he  desired  me  to  as- 
sure you  of  his  sincere  regard,  and  that  he  would  under  no  circumstances 
do  anything  intentionally  to  your  prejudice.  I  have  retained  your  letter 
in  order  to  have  it  referred  to  General  Scott,  if  you  desire  the  matter  to 
take  that  course.     Please  instruct  me  on  the  subject. 

The  late  attacks  on  the  cabinet,  and  especially  on  the  War  Office  do 
not  appear  to  have  produced  much  effect.     There  is  no  sign  of  any  change. 

Neither  the  offensive  order  depriving  Dix  of  his  soldiers  nor 
his  protest  against  it,  is  on  file  in  the  War  Department;  but  it  is 
known  that  Stanton's  effort  to  secure  a  modification  of  the  order 
was  successful. 

A  few  weeks  later  a  simple  incident  developed  unexpected  and 
momentous  results.  On  the  13th  of  November,  1861,  Colonel  John 
Cochrane  of  New  York  delivered  a  speech  to  his  regiment,  then 
quartered  within  a  mile  of  Washington,  in  which  he  advocated  that 
^'we  should  take  the  slave  by  the  hand,  placing  a  musket  in  it,  and 
bid  him  in  God's  name  strike  for  the  liberty  of  the  human  race." 
Secretary  Cameron  was  present  and  approved  the  sentiment,  which 
provoked  much  denunciatory  comment  and  was  extremely  distaste- 
ful to  Lincoln. 

Secretary  Caleb  B.  Smith*  undertook  the  task  of  chastising 
the  Secretary  of  War,  who  not  only  did  not  recede  but  inserted  in 


*0f  the  Department  of  the  Interior. 


116  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

his  annual  report,  which  he  was  at  that  moment  preparing,  an  ex- 
plicit recommendation  in  favor  of  arming  Africans.  Before  trans- 
mitting it  to  the  President,  however,  he  submitted  the  document  to 
Stanton  and  asked  for  counsel  particularly  upon  the  clause  recom- 
mending "arming  slaves  of  rebels."  Stanton  approved  the  recom- 
mendation but  suggested  and  wrote  this  additional  paragraph  which 
Cameron  adopted  and  inserted: 

Those  who  make  war  against  the  Government  justly  forfeit  all  rights 
of  property,  privilege,  and  security  derived  from  the  constitution  and  the 
laws  against  which  they  are  in  armed  rebellion;  and,  as  the  labor  and  ser- 
vice of  their  slaves  constitute  the  chief  property  of  the  rebels,  such  prop- 
erty should  share  the  common  fate  of  war  to  which  they  have  devoted  the 
property  of  loyal  citizens.  *  *  *  It  is  as  clearly  the  right  of 
this  Government  to  arm  slaves  when  it  may  become  necessary  as  it  is  to 
use  gunpowder  or  guns  taken  from  the  enemy. 

On  Saturday,  November  30,  Cameron  presented  his  report  to 
Lincoln  and  sent  advance  copies  of  it  to  the  leading  newspapers. 
On  Monday,  Lincoln  discovered  the  recommendation  to  arm  slaves 
of  rebels  and  suggested  its  excision.  The  Secretary  did  not  yield 
and  another  conference  followed  with  the  same  result,  except  that 
Lincoln  announced  that  he  should  not  send  the  report  to  Congress 
until  he  himself  had  stricken  out  the  clause  favoring  the  arming  of 
slaves,  unless  it  should  otherwise  be  expunged. 

"Very  well,"  said  Cameron,  "but  the  copies  I  have  sent  out 
will  stand."  They  did,  indeed,  stand,  and  were  published  by  the 
newspapers  as  they  stood ;  but  Lincoln,  sustained  by  the  remaining 
members  of  the  cabinet  (except  Chase),  expunged  the  slave-arming 
clause  before  transmitting  the  report  to  Congress ;  so  that  the  pub- 
he  received  one  recommendation  and  Congress  another. 

Cameron  then  understood  that  he  could  not  remain  much  longer 
in  the  cabinet;  but,  as  he  refused  to  resign  "without  knowing  who 
his  successor  would  be,"  and  as  his  expurgated  recommendation 
was  sustained  by  the  great  active  war  party  of  the  North,  Lincoln 
hesitated  to  remove  him.  Finally  the  plan  of  sending  him  as  min- 
ister to  Russia  was  conceived,  but  to  find  a  suitable  successor  was 
perplexing.  Lincoln  wanted  Joseph  Holt  while  Secretary  Seward 
(at  the  suggestion  of  Peter  H.  Watson)  urged  the  appointment  of 
Stanton  who,  unaware  of  the  proposed  change,  was  at  that  mo- 
ment preparing  to  establish  himself  in  New  York  as  the  law  part- 
ner of  S.  L.  M.  Barlow.    The  matter  was  under  discussion  but  a 


Salmon  P.  Chase, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


Caleb  B.  Smith, 
Secretary  of  Interior. 


Members  of  Lincoln's  Cabinet, 


RESUMES  THE  LAW— APPOINTED  WAR  MINISTER        117 

few  hours.  As  the  ruling  influences  quickly  concentrated  in  favor 
of  Stanton,  Lincoln  submerged  his  personal  preference  and  agreed 
that  Stanton  should  be  the  man  chosen.* 

"I  remember  very  well  when  the  President  was  hesitating  be- 
tween Judge  Holt  and  Mr.  Stanton,"  says  General  E.  D.  Townsend. 
''1  think  it  was  the  Saturday  (January  11)  before  the  latter's  selec- 
tion was  made  that  Mr.  Stanton  visited  General  Scott  in  his  office 
opposite  the  War  Department.  The  General  had  drawn  up  his  will, 
which  was  complicated  by  the  fact  that  part  of  his  property  was  in 
the  seceded  State  of  Virginia,  and  he  wanted  to  consult  Mr.  Stanton 
about  it.  General  Scott  thought  highly  of  him,  and  threw  his  in- 
fluence in  the  direction  of  the  final  decision." 

"Tell  the  President  I  will  accept,"  said  Stanton  when  consulted, 
"if  no  other  pledge  than  to  throttle  treason  shall  be  exacted." 

Thus  Stanton's  call  to  the  War  Office  was  as  sudden  and  un- 
expected as  the  summons  to  become  attorney-general  in  Buchan- 
an's cabinet.  The  question  arose  on  the  11th  of  January,  and  on 
Monday,  the  13th,  his  nomination  was  sent  to  the  Senate.  Senator 
Sumner,  at  the  executive  session  later  in  the  day,  moved  immediate 
confirmation  "because,"  he  said,  "Mr.  Stanton  does  not  agree  with 
those  who  want  the  war  so  managed  as  to  save  slavery  no  matter 
what  else  may  result,  but  believes  that  the  war  should  be  prosecuted 
to  save  the  Union  and  that  everything  necessary  should  be  made 
to  contribute  to  its  success."  As  there  was  objection,  the  motion 
was  withdrawn  and  a  committee  of  Republicans  was  raised  to  "in- 
vestigate Stanton's  loyalty."  The  report  came  forthwith  that  he 
was  "all  right,"  and  his  confirmation  and  a  commission  from  the 
President  followed  on  the  15th. 

Interesting,  indeed,  is  the  fact  that  Lincoln  was  unaware  that 
the  iron-willed  giant  he  was  putting  in  was  more  stubbornly  in 
favor  of  enlisting  and  arming  the  slaves  of  rebellious  masters  than 
the  man  he  was  putting  out.  Lincoln  was  also  unaware  that  the 
recommendation  which,  with  his  own  hand,  he  had  expunged  from 
Cameron's  report  and  which  was  the  means  of  forcing  its  supposed 
author  out,  was  conceived  and  written  by  the  very  man  now  going 
in — but  so  it  was ;  and  so  it  may  be  said  that  Stanton  wrote  his 
own  appointment ! 


♦Montgomery  Blair,  postmaster-general,  was  the  only  member  of  Lin- 
coln's cabinet  who  opposed  the  appointment  of  Stanton. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
WORK  FOR  A  TITAN. 

The  situation  of  tiie  nation  at  the  time  Stanton  became  sec- 
retary of  war  was  critical.  Eleven  old  and  wealthy  States  in  active 
and  enthusiastic  rebellion  had  planted  their  capital  almost  within 
cannon-shot  of  Washington,  which  stood  on  the  fringe  of  rebellious 
territory.  Several  border  States,  the  very  garden  of  the  Republic, 
were  divided — one  side  sending  thousands  of  soldiers  to  fight  for 
the  Confederacy  and  the  other  side  thousands  to  fight  for  the  Union. 

The  North  itself  was  contentious,  a  considerable  portion  of  its 
people  sympathizing  and  siding  with  secession.  Enlistments  were 
on  the  wane.  The  Mississippi  River  was  blockaded  in  the  south- 
west and  the  Potomac  in  the  east.  The  streets  and  resorts  of  Wash- 
ington swarmed  with  military  ofificers  who  should  have  been  at  the 
front.  A  majority  of  the  residents  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  the 
chief  banking  institution  at  the  Federal  capital,  and  hundreds  of 
Government  employes  were  secret  aiders  and  abettors  of  seces- 
sion. The  banks  of  the  nation  had  suspended  specie  payment. 
Many  divisions  of  the  army  had  passed  several  pay-days  without 
meeting  the  paymaster.  Quantities  of  goods  consumed  by  the 
armies  and  the  people  and  even  flag  materials  were  purchased 
abroad,  thus  sending  the  product  of  the  California  gold  mines  to 
European  banks  which,  refusing  financial  aid  to  the  North,  sub- 
scribed for  all  the  Confederate  securities  that  were  ofifered. 

France  and  England  were  watching  for  an  excuse  to  recognize 
the  Confederacy  as  an  independent  nation ;  Government  expendi- 
tures were  a  quarter  of  a  billion  above  the  highest  estimates  and  still 
increasing;  national  credit  was  weakening;  army  contractors  and 
speculators  were  looting  the  Treasury  and  robbing  the  soldiery ; 
Lincoln  was  gloomy,  and  over  the  rocking  Republic  shadows  hung 
low  and  dark. 

In  the  War  Office  was  found  a  continuation  of  the  chaos  that 
prevailed  without.     Colonel  A.  P.  Heichold  of  Pennsylvania  says 


WORK  FOR  A  TITAN  v  119 

that  "on  the  day  Stanton  was  sworn  in,  his  Department  resembled 
a  great  lunatic  asylum  more  than  anything  else,"  but  Secretary 
Cameron  was  not  the  full  author  of  the  chaos.  Lincoln  had  been  at 
logger-heads  with  his  war  minister,  while  Seward,  assuming  a  wide 
range  of  military  power  which  belonged  exclusively  to  the  War 
Department,  added  to  the  general  demoralization  by  arresting  so- 
called  "State  prisoners"  and  formulating  the  domestic  as  well  as 
foreign  war  policy  of  the  administration.*  Thus,  Stanton  found  the 
entire  prospect  beset  with  difificulties. 

On  the  day  of  his  confirmation  he  consulted  with  the  "commit- 
tee on  loyalty  of  Federal  employes"  in  order  to  learn  who  in  his  De- 
partment and  who  generally  in  the  service  could  be  trusted  and  who 
must  be  arrested  or  dismissed.  On  the  day  he  was  sworn  in  he  "Or- 
dered: That  the  War  Department  will  be  closed  Tuesdays,  Wednes- 
days, Thursdays,  and  Fridays  against  all  business  except  that  which 
relates  to  active  military  operations  in  the  field.  Saturdays  will  be 
devoted  to  the  business  of  senators  and  representatives ;  Mondays 
to  the  business  of  the  public."  Also  that  "the  Secretary  of  War 
will  transact  no  business  and  see  no  person  at  his  residence."  On 
the  same  day  he  met  the  Joint  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the 
War  and  the  military  committees  of  both  Houses  at  his  own  re- 
quest, to  secure  the  benefit  of  whatever  information  they  might  im- 
part and  bring  the  legislative  into  cordial  working  line  with  the  ex- 
ecutive branch  of  the  war-power  and  keep  it  there.  "We  must  strike 
hands,"  he  said  to  Chairman  Wade,  "and,  uniting  our  strength  and 
thought,  double  the  power  of  the  Government  to  suppress  its  ene- 
mies and  restore  its  integrity." 

On  the  following  day,  January  22,  he  requested  the  cabinet  (W. 
H.  Seward,  secretary  of  state ;  Salmon  P.  Chase,  secretary  of  the 
treasury ;  Gideon  Welles,  secretary  of  the  navy ;  Edward  Bates, 
attorney-general ;  Montgomery  Blair,  postmaster-general ;  Caleb  B. 
Smith,  secretary  of  the  interior),  individually  and  collectively,  to 
contribute  whatever  aid  or  suggestion  might  be  deemed  advisable 
to  strengthen  his  hands,  and  shouted  his  first  order  to  the  army  in 


*In  his  testimony  before  an  investigating  committee  of  Congress, 
Stanton  observed  significantly  in  reply  to  a  question  as  to  Seward's  usur- 
pations: "I  believe  that  Mr.  Seward  at  one  period  of  the  war,  prior  to  my 
becoming  secretary,  exercised  considerable  military  power.  I  considered 
myself,  as  secretary  of  war,  to  be  in  charge  of  the  military  department  and 
Mr.  Seward  in  charge  of  the  civil  department," 


120  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

the  form  of  a  message  of  thanks  and  praise  for  the  "brilliant  victory 
achieved  by  the  United  States  forces  over  a  large  body  of  armed 
traitors  and  rebels  at  Mill  Spring,  in  the  State  of  Kentucky." 

Thus  he  went  swiftly  from  point  to  point,  touching  them  all  as 
with  a  rod  of  fire,  until  the  magic  of  his  influence  reached  every  De- 
partment of  the  Government,  both  branches  of  Congress,  every 
division  and  camp  of  the  army,  every  monetary  center,*  every  com- 
munity of  patriots,  and  every  captive  in  an  insurgent  prison. 


*The  financial  reports  from  New  York  and  the  leading  monetary  jour- 
nals announced  a  "marked  upward  turn  and  advanced  strength"  in  Gov- 
ernment securities  "owing  to  the  change  in  the  War  Department  at  Wash- 
ington and  the  energetic  character  of  the  new  incumbent." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
OPENING  INTERCOURSE  WITH  McCLELLAN. 

On  page  163,  Volume  IL,  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil 
War,"  George  B.  McClellan  says :  "I  had  never  met  Mr.  Stanton  be- 
fore reaching  Washington  in  [July  26]  1861.  He  at  once  sought  me 
and  professed  the  utmost  personal  affection." 

McClellan  was  not  sought  by  Stanton  "at  once"  nor  at  any 
other  time.  He  never  met  him  until  November,  1861,  and  then 
professionally  at  McClellan's  own  request.  On  November  8,  1861, 
Captain  Charles  Wilkes  of  the  United  States  war-ship  San  Jacinto^ 
boarded  the  British  mail  steamship  Trent  with  an  armed  force  and 
secured  the  persons  and  baggage  of  James  M.  Mason  and  John  Sli- 
dell,  envoys  of  the  Confederate  "government"  to  England  and  France 
and  bearers  of  contraband  despatches,  and  took  them  to  Fort  War- 
ren, near  Boston.  England,  strongly  disposed  to  espouse  the  cause 
of  the  rebellious  States,  sent  ships  and  soldiers  to  Canada  to  rein- 
force any  diplomatic  correspondence  which  might  arise  with  Wash- 
ington, unofficially  threatened  to  seize  Portland,  Maine,  and  de- 
manded the  release  of  the  prisoners.  S.  L.  M.  Barlow  of  New  York 
states  how  this  afifair  brought  Stanton  and  McClellan  together: 

I  was  in  Washington  at  the  request  of  General  McClellan.  The  Mason 
and  Slidell  imbroglio  was  under  consideration  and  the  General  had  been 
asked  to  attend  a  cabinet  meeting  the  next  day  when  the  question  as 
to  their  retention  or  surrender  would  be  determined.  He  asked  my  opinion 
as  to  our  right  to  hold  them.  I  replied  that  the  matter  was  so  serious  that 
I  preferred  to  ask  some  other  lawyer  to  aid  me.  He  asked,  "Whom  would 
you  go  to?"  I  answered,  'To  Mr.  Stanton,  who  is  an  able  lawyer."  He  as- 
sented  to   this,  though  he  did  not  know  Mr.  Stanton. 

I  spent  the  morning  with  the  latter  and  after  a  careful  examination  of 
the  question,  we  both  agreed  that  our  right  to  hold  Mason  and  Slidell  was 
doubtful;  that  it  was  plain  we  must  surrender  them  unless  the  Government 
was  prepared  for  immediate  hostilities  with  England.  I  made  the  report 
to  General  McClellan,  who  was  much  inclined,  nevertheless,  to  hold  the  en- 
voys and  risk  a  war  with  England.  The  same  evening  I  presented  Mr.  Stan- 
ton, which   was   the  beginning  of  their  acquaintance.     From   that   evening   for 


122  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

a  week  or  thereabouts   Mr.   Stanton  was  consulted   by   the    General   every 
day  and  sometimes  both  in  the  morning  early  and  in  the  evening. 

One  part  of  Judge  Barlow's  statement  is  proven  by  McClellan's 
letters  to  his  wife,  which  mention  frequent  visits  to  Stanton's 
house  during  November.  On  the  17th  he  wrote :  "I  shall  try  again 
to  write  a  few  lines  before  going  to  Mr.  Stanton  to  ascertain  the  law 
of  nations  relative  to  the  seizure  of  Mason  and  Slidell."  On  the  24th 
he  wrote:  "I  am  concealed  at  Stanton's  to  avoid  all  enemies  in  the 
shape  of  browsing  Presidents,"  etc. 

Thus  is  the  falsity  of  McClellan's  opening  statement  that  in 
July,  1861,  Stanton  ''at  once  sought  him"  established  by  his  own 
and  other  private  correspondence,  together  with  the  further  fact 
that  he  himself  was  the  seeker  "every  day  and  sometimes  both  in 
the  morning  early  and  in  the  evening."  While  this  "seeking"  Vv^as 
going  on,  the  following  correspondence  passed : 

New  York,   November  21,   1861. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  am  glad  to  learn  by  the  papers  of  to-day  that  there  has  been  a  col- 
lision of  sentiment  between  Cameron  and  Smith.  Such  quarrels  should  be 
fostered  in  every  proper  way,  though  the  General  [McClellan]  must,  if 
possible,  keep  entirely  free  from  them. 

Since  my  return  home  I  have  met  hundreds  of  our  most  prominent  citi- 
zens, and  my  ability  to  speak  with  confidence  as  to  the  power  of  our  army, 
and  especially  my  entire  belief  in  McClellan,  have  enabled  me,  I  think,  to 
be  of  real  service.  I  have  been  of  course  very  careful  not  in  any  way  to 
undertake  to  represent  McClellan's  views  in  any  respect,  while  the  fact  that 
I  saw  so  much  of  McClellan  most  effectually  closes  my  mouth  on  the  sub- 
ject of  his  movements,  though  in  fact  I  really  know  nothing. 

If  you  learn  anything  as  to  the  Mason-Slidell  case  which  you  can 
properly  communicate,  let  me  hear  from  you. 

Public  opinion  here  is  pretty  well  settled  in  favor  of  our  right,  but  at 
the  same  time  we  do  not  want  another  war  or  even  a  serious  diplomatic 
correspondence,  and  I  would  knuckle  a  little  to  John  Bull,  waiting  for  some 
time  to  pay  him  back. 

This  is  of  even  more  importance,  in  view  of  the'  undoubted  fact  that 
Louis  Napoleon  is  inclined  to  put  his  finger  in  our  pie,  than  it  otherwise 
would  be. 

Yours  very  truly. 
The  Honorable  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  S.  L.  M.   Barlow. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Washington,  D.  C,  November  23,  1861. 
Dear  Sir: 

Yours  of  the  21st  reached  me  this  morning.     Nothing  has  transpired 


OPENING  INTERCOURSE  WITH  McCLELLAN  123 

in  respect  to  the  Trent  affair.  I  saw  the  General  [McClellan]  last  evening. 
He  was  well  and  much  pleased  with  his  late  review.  Lord  Lyons  [the 
British  minister]  did  not  attend;  all  the  others  of  the  diplomatic  corps  were 
there.  I  mentioned  the  Smith  and  Cameron  affair*  in  yesterday's  note  and 
I  perceived  this  morning  allusion  to  it  in  the  papers.  Cameron,  Chase,  and 
Seward  are  said  to  agree  on  the  negro  arming  question.  Smith,  Blair,  and 
Lincoln  contra. 

/  think  the  General's  true  course  is  to  mind  his  own  Department  and  win  a  viC' 
iory.     After  that  all  other  things  will  be  of  easy  settlement. 

Yours  truly, 
S.  L.  M.  Barlow,  Esq.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

The  foregoing  Barlow  letter  discloses  that  the  politicians  of  the 
party  to  which  McClellsm  belonged  were  already  engaged  in  an 
effort  to  hamper  and  break  down  the  administration  by  promoting 
quarrels  among  its  members,  the  beneficiary  of  which  was  to  be 
OMcClellan  himself,  although,  "if  possible,  he  was  to  keep  entirely 
free  from  them."  But  Stanton,  belonging  to  the  same  party,  con- 
demned such  efforts  during  a  period  of  national  distress  and  de- 
sired McClellan,  instead  of  dabbling  in  politics,  to  "mind  his  own 
Department  and  win  a  victory." 

On  page  159  of  his  "Own  Story"  McClellan  states  that  Stanton 
"no  doubt  made  use  of  his  pretended  friendship  for  me  to  secure 
his  appointment"  as  secretary  of  war ;  and  elsewhere,  that  "he 
climbed  on  my  shoulders  only  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  me 
down."  The  following  extracts  from  a  letter  to  S.  L.  M.  Barlow, 
written  January  7,  1862,  four  days  before  the  appointment  was  de- 
cided upon,  show  that  Stanton  had  no  intimation  of  a  change  in 
the  War  Department,  and  that  the  insinuations  to  the  contrary  are 
pure  fiction : 

From  the  day  you  left  here  until  the  present  time  there  has  been  no 
improvement  in  public  affairs,  save  General  McCIellan's  accession  to  chief 
command,  but  his  illness  has  in  a  great  measure  prevented  the  good  conse- 
quences which  might  have  resulted  from  that  event.  His  health  is  now  im- 
proving. 

Your  anticipation  that  he  would  be  assailed  by  certain  parties,  I  think, 
is  well  founded.  No  direct  assault  upon  him  has  yet  been  made,  but  there 
have  been  several  indirect  lunges,  the  object  whereof  cannot  be  mistaken. 
Fremont  is  now  here  and  divers  rumors  abound  as  to  the  designs  of  his 
partisans;  whether  any  of  them  be  true  or  not,  time  only  will  show. 


*The  "Smith  and  Cameron  affair"  resulted,  a  few  days  later,  in  putting 
Stanton  into  the  cabinet.     See  Chapter  XIX. 


124  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

The  surrender  of  Mason  and  Slidell  was  a  political  necessity,  but  I 
doubt  whether  it  will  avoid  war.  My  private  advices  from  England  repre- 
sent a  nearly  unanimous  and  almost  frantic  hostility  of  the  English  people 
to  our  Government,  which  the  power  of  the  ministry  cannot  restrain,  if  it 
desired  so  to  do.  The  French  feeling  is  no  better.  The  fact  is  that  there 
seems  to  be  an  outbreak  of  hostility  against  our  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment, combined  with  a  bitter  contempt  for  the  administration,  which  in- 
duces foreign  powers  to  seize  the  chance  of  the  hour  to  destroy  us.  On 
our  part  there  appears  no  consciousness  of  the  dangers,  or  ability  to  avoid 
them.     Seward  says,  "all's  well,"  and  that  is  enough  for  the  Republicans. 

Thus  McClellan's  assertions  that  Stanton  "climbed  on  his 
shoulders  only  for  the  purpose  of  throwing  him  down"  and  "made 
use  of  his  pretended  friendship  for  me  to  secure  his  appointment" 
as  secretary,  are  seen  to  be  absolute  fabrications. 

On  Wednesday  (January  15)  Stanton  was  confirmed  and  next 
morning  proceeded  to  headquarters  to  open  the  day  with  a  confer- 
ence with  McClellan.  He  was  accompanied  by  General  Stewart 
Van  Vliet,  a  member  of  McClellan's  staflF. 

McClellan's  headquarters  were  on  Jackson  Square,  where  he 
held  a  "levee"  with  his  staff  at  10  every  morning  and  another  at 
9  every  night.  He  was  preparing  to  hold  one  of  these  fantastic 
functions  when  Stanton's  card  was  sent  up,  but  continued  to 
dawdle  with  his  aides,  orderlies,  and  other  satraps,  thus  keeping 
his  distinguished  caller  in  waiting  the  full  hour  required  for  this 
tawdry  nonsense.  General  Van  Vliet  says  Stanton  was  very  much 
incensed  and  inquired  "what  sort  of  a  commanding  general  the 
country  had."  Under  the  previous  regime,  after  the  accession  of 
McClellan,  the  Secretary  of  War  had  been  little  more  than  a  clerk. 
The  grand  moving,  or  unmoving  power  in  Washington  was  the 
General-in-Chief,  and  his  first  step,  after  Stanton's  appointment,  was 
to  give  the  new  Secretary  a  lesson  in  subordination,  which,  says 
General  Van  Vliet,  "brought  destruction  to  its  author." 

On  Monday,  January  20,  "all  the  officers  in  the  regular  service 
called  upon  the  new  Secretary  of  War  according  to  custom,"  headed 
by  McClellan.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  introduction,  Stanton  ad- 
dressed his  callers : 

I  do  not  attempt  to  conceal  the  pleasure  I  feel  at  meeting  so  fine  and 
capable  a  body  of  men;  yet  we  are  not  here  for  personal  pleasure  or  grati- 
fication, but  for  a  great  and  holy  purpose.  Our  Government  is  assailed 
and  our  country  is  in  peril.    We  have  been  called  upon  to  save  them  and  we 


OPENING  INTERCOURSE  WITH  McCLELLAN  125 

must,  we  shall,  be  equal  to  the  call.  It  is  my  work  to  furnish  the  means, 
the  instruments,  for  prosecuting  the  war  for  the  Union  and  putting  down 
the  Rebellion  against  it.  It  is  your  duty  to  use  those  instruments,  andJ 
mine  to  see  to  it  that  you  do  use  them.* 

The  foregoing  address  accentuates  the  beginning  of  what  Mc- 
Clellan  terms  his  "serious  difficulties"  with  Stanton,  whose  "man- 
ner," he  said,  was  "offensive." 

The  vigor  with  which  the  War  Department  was  being  re- 
galvanized  attracted  the  attention  of  Charles  A.  Dana,  then  of  the 
New  York  Tribune,  who,  in  a  letter  of  congratulation,  called  at- 
tention to  certain  cotton  rascalities  among  Federal  officers  in  the 
South,  to  which  Stanton  replied  on  January  24 : 

The  facts  you  mention  are  new  to  me,  but  there  is  too  much  reason 
to  fear  they  are  true.  But  that  matter  will,  I  think,  be  corrected  very 
speedily.  Every  man  who  wishes  the  country  to  pass  through  this  trying 
hour  should  stand  on  watch,  and  aid  me.  Bad  passions  gather  around  and 
hem  in  the  great  movements  that  should  deliver  this  nation. 

Two  days  ago  I  wrote  you  a  long  letter — a  three-pager — expressing  my 
thanks  for  your  admirable  article  of  the  21st,  stating  my  position  and  pur- 
poses; and  in  that  letter  I  mentioned  some  of  the  circumstances  of  my  un- 
expected appointment.  But,  interrupted  before  it  was  completed,  I  will  not 
afflict  you  with  it.  I  know  the  task  that  is  before  us.  I  say  us,  because  the 
Tribune  has  its  mission  as  plainly  as  I  have  mine,  and  both  tend  to  the  same 
end.  But  I  am  not  in  the  smallest  degree  dismayed  or  disheartened.  By 
God's  blessing  we  shall  prevail.  I  feel  a  deep,  earnest  feeling  growing  up 
around  me.  We  now  have  no  jokes  or  trivialities;  but  all  with  whom  I  act 
show  that  they  are  now  in  dead  earnest.  I  know  that  you  will  rejoice  to 
know  this.  As  soon  as  I  can  get  the  machinery  of  the  office  working,  the 
rats  cleared  out,  and  the  rat-holes  stopped,  we  shall  move.  This  army  has 
got  to  fight  or  run  away;  and  while  men  are  striving  nobly  in  the  West,  the  cham- 
pagne a7td  oysters  on  the  Potomac  must  be  stopped.  But  patience  for  a  short 
while  is  all  I  ask,  if  you  and  others  like  you  will  rally  around  me. 

In  the  above  letter,  the  expression  "we  now  have  no  jokes  or 
trivialities,"  refers  to  the  fact  that  while  Lincoln  was  "swapping 
yarns"  with  his  other  cabinet  officers  and  the  heads  of  Departments 
he  did  not  joke  with  Stanton  or  consume  a  second  of  his  time  not 
required  for  the  consideration  of  public  business. 

The  phrase  "champagne  and  oysters  on  the  Potomac,"  refers 
to  the  round  of  poppinjay  dinners  inaugurated  by  McClellan  (un- 

*Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  who  entered  the  War  Office  with  Stanton, 
says:  "When  Mr.  Stanton  came  to  the  final  sentence  of  his  wonderful 
little  speech,  he  turned  his  face  straight  toward  General  McClellan." 


126  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

der  the  guidance  of  Wormley,  the  famous  caterer)  after  he  was  ap- 
pointed general-in-chief.*  This  social  revelry  exasperated  Stanton, 
who  knew  that  the  commanders  in  the  West,  although  living  on 
hard-tack  and  coffee  and  sleeping  on  the  ground,  were  fighting  and 
driving  the  enemy  at  every  opportunity. 


*Says  John  F.  Coyle,  editor  of  the  National  Intelligencer  at  the  time: 
"While  he  had  his  headquarters  in  Washington,  General  McClellan  gave 
an  elaborate  dinner  with  several  courses  of  wine  almost  every  afternoon. 
1  was  frequently  present  and  do  not  recall  that  at  any  time  there  were  less 
than  twenty  guests  at  the  board — not  the  friends  of  the  administration  or 
the  war,  either;  such  were  never  invited.  McClellan  was  the  head  of  so- 
ciety in  Washington,  and  society  was  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  secession. 
After  dinner  McClellan  and  his  staff,  in  full  dress  uniform,  mounted  and 
went  clattering  up  and  down  the  public  streets.  He  had  no  reason  for 
going,  except  to  be  seen.     It  was  ridiculous." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
AN  ERA-CREATING  ORDER. 

On  August  1,  1861,  Secretary  Cameron  made  Thomas  A.  Scott 
of  Pennsylvania  assistant  secretary  by  an  "order."  Under  Stanton 
the  order  was  succeeded  by  a  law — which  also  amply  enlarged  the 
clerical  force — Mr.  Scott  continuing  for  the  time  being  in  office. 
John  Tucker,  controlling  officer  of  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading 
Railroad,  was  made  second-assistant,  to  have  general  supervision 
of  contracts  and  chartering  steamers,  transports,  and  craft  for 
the  use  of  the  army.  For  third-assistant  he  chose  his  old  friend 
and  partner,  Peter  Hill  Watson,  who  gave  up  a  law  business  of 
fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year  to  accept  the  call  of  patriotism. 

Having  partly  reorganized  his  Department  and  provided  for  its 
most  pressing  necessities  as  best  he  could  within  a  few  days,  Stanton 
made  a  wider  reconnoissance.  Finding  over  one  thousand  four 
hundred  nominations  pending  on  the  military  list,  he  suspended  all 
of  them,  thus  inviting  the  opening  assault  of  a  personal  warfare  that 
became  wide-spread,  incessant,  and  malignant.  He  "wanted  to  ex- 
amine into  the  matter,"  he  explained,  as  "merit  or  honors  won  on 
the  field  ought  to  determine  promotions  and  nominations"  but  his 
explanation  was  nothing — the  friends  of  one  thousand  four  hundred 
persons,  in  addition  to  the  persons  themselves,  were  disappointed 
and  vengeful. 

Discovering  that  arms,  clothing,  and  supplies  for  the  armies 
were  largely  purchased  in  Europe,  he  said  to  Secretary  Chase :  *'If 
these  things  were  purchased  at  home,  the  flow  of  gold  abroad 
would  be  stopped  and  our  factories  lifted  from  depression."  There- 
fore, in  the  famous  official  "Order"  of  January  29,  1862,  he  declared : 

1.  That  no  further  contracts  be  made  by  this  Department  or  any  bu- 
reau thereof  for  any  article  of  foreign  manufacture  that  can  be  produced 
in  the  United  States. 

2.  All  outstanding  orders,  agencies,  authorities,  or  licenses  for  the 
purchase  of  arms,  clothing,  or  anything  else  in  foreign  countries,  or  of  for- 
eign manufacture,  for  this  Department,  are  revoked  and  annulled. 


128  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Great  and  far-sighted  as  this  conception  proved  to  be,  Lincoln 
was  "afraid  it  would  exasperate  our  friends  over  the  water"  and 
Seward  opposed  it  as  likely  to  "complicate  the  foreign  situation." 

"It  will  have  to  be  issued,"  replied  Stanton,  "or  very  soon 
there  will  be  no  situation  to  complicate." 

That  closed  the  argument.  The  order  went  forth  and  created 
the  industrial  era  in  America,  against  the  ever-increasing  pressure 
of  which,  throughout  the  world,  the  nations  are  still  groaning  their 
protests.  It  made  of  the  United  States  a  self-supporting  and  ten- 
fold more  expansive,  glorious,  and  powerful  nation  than  it  was  be- 
fore. It  was  one  of  the  most  pregnant  edicts  ever  issued  by  an 
American  officer,  and  it  is  one  of  the  few  adequate  measures  of 
Stanton's  greatness. 

Part  4  of  this  same  order  of  January  29  was  aimed  at  corrupt 
and  fraudulent  contracts,  against  which  the  country  was  clamoring 
and  which  Congress  was  at  that  moment  trying  to  investigate.  He 
Ordered : 

4.  All  contracts,  orders,  and  arrangements  for  army  supplies  must 
be  in  writing,  and  signed  by  the  contracting  parties,  and  the  original  or  a 
copy  thereof,  according  to  paragraph  1,049  of  the  regulations,  filed  with 
the  head  of  the  proper  bureau.  *  *  *  Every  claim  founded 
upon  any  pretended  contract,  bargain,  agreement,  order,  warrant,  authority, 
or  license  now  outstanding,  of  which  notice  and  a  copy  is  not  filed  in  ac- 
cordance with  this  order  within  the  period  mentioned,  shall  be  deemed 
and  held  to  be  prima  facie  fraudulent  and  void,  and  no  claim  thereon  will  be 
allowed  or  paid  by  this  Department  unless  upon  full  and  satisfactory 
proof   of   its   validity. 

For  a  time  consternation  reigned  about  Washington,  and  great 
pressure  was  exerted  to  have  section  4  revoked  or  modified.  But 
it  stood,  saving  the  Treasury  millions  upon  millions  of  dollars  and 
making  thousands  of  enemies  for  its  author. 

An  exceedingly  ofifensive  spectacle  to  Stanton  at  this  time  was 
the  crowd  of  soldiers — privates  as  well  as  officers — loafing,  lobby- 
ing, speculating,  and  carousing  about  Washington.  "Soldiers  must 
be  on  duty  and  the  army  will  now  have  to  earn  its  living,"  he  de- 
clared, and  issued  orders  sending  all  connected  with  the  military 
establishment  to  their  respective  posts.  The  effect  was  so  salutary 
that  the  newspapers  remarked,  on  January  29,  that  "fewjr  soldiers 
are  seen  in  Washington  than  at  any  time  since  the  commencement 
of  the  Rebellion." 


AN  ERA-CREATING  ORDER  129 

A  second  letter  to  C.  A.  Dana,  written  on  February  1,  shows 
that  he  appreciated  the  weight  of  the  heavy  burdens  he  had  under- 
taken to  carry : 

If  General  Fremont  has  any  fight  in  him  he  shall  (so  far  as  I  am  con- 
cerned) have  a  chance  to  show  it,  and  I  have  told  him  so.  The  times  re- 
quire the  help  of  every  man  according  to  his  gifts;  and  having  neither  par- 
tialities nor  grudges  to  indulge,  it  will  be  my  aim  to  practise  on  the 
maxim,  "the   tools   to   him   that   can    handle    them." 

To  bring  the  War  Department  up  to  the  standard  of  the  times,  and 
work  an  army  of  five  hundred  thousand  with  machinery  adapted  to  a 
peace  establishment  of  twelve  thousand  is  no  easy  task.  This  was  Mr.  Cam- 
eron's great  trouble,  and  the  cause  of  much  of  the  complaints  against  him. 
All  I  ask  is  reasonable  time  and  patience.  The  pressure  of  members  of  Con- 
gress for  clerk  and  army  appointments  notwithstanding  the  most  stringent 
rules,  and  the  persistent  strain  against  all  measures  essential  to  obtain  time 
for  thought,  combination,  and  conference,  are  discouraging  in  the  ex- 
treme. They  often  tempt  me  to  quit  the  helm  in  despair.  The  only  con- 
solation is  the  confidence  and  support  of  good  and  patriotic  men.  To  their 
aid  I  look  for  strength. 

The  changes  and  reforms  necessary  to  "bring  the  Department 
up  to  the  standard  of  the  times"  were  executed  only  at  the  expense 
of  Herculean  efifort.  Indeed,  so  extraordinary  were  his  exertions 
that  on  the  10th  of  February  he  was  prostrated  by  vertigo  and  con- 
veyed from  the  Department  in  an  insensible  condition.  He  soon 
recovered,  however,  and  raced  along  as  before. 

Having  entered  the  Department  free  from  entanglements — 
without  friends  to  reward,  foes  to  punish,  or  political  debts  to  dis- 
charge— he  proposed  to  hold  to  a  just  and  independent  course  re- 
gardless of  criticism  and  personal  dissatisfaction.  But  when  the  vic- 
tories at  Fort  Henry  (February  6,  1862)  and  Fort  Donelson  (Feb- 
ruary 16,  1862)  were  credited  by  the  newspapers  to  the  spirit  and 
energy  which  he  had  instilled  into  the  military  establishment,  he 
was  frightened  and  sent  the  following  generous  sentiment  by  tele- 
graph, which  was  published,  over  his  signature,  on  February  20,  in 
the  New  York  Tribune : 

I  cannot  suffer  undue  merit  to  be  ascribed  to  my  official  actions.  The 
glories  of  our  recent  victory  belong  to  the  gallant  officers  and  soldiers  that 
fought  the  battles.     No  share  of  it  belongs  to  me. 

Much  has  recently  been  said  of  military  combinations  and  organizing 
victory.  I  hear  such  phrases  with  apprehension.  They  commenced  in 
infidel  France  with  the  Italian  campaign  and  resulted  in  Waterloo.  Who 
can  organize  victory?     Who  can  combine  the  elements  of  success  on  the 


130  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

battlefield?  We  owe  our  recent  victories  to  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  that 
moved  our  soldiers  to  rush  into  battle  and  filled  the  hearts  of  our  enemies 
with  dismay.  The  inspiration  that  conquered  in  battle  was  in  the  hearts 
of  the  soldiers  and  from  on  high;  and  wherever  there  is  the  same  inspiration 
there  will  be  the  same  results.  Patriotic  spirit,  with  resolute  courage  in 
ofificers  and  men,  is  a   military  combination   that  never   fails. 

We  may  well  rejoice  at  recent  victories,  for  they  teach  us  that  battles 
are  to  be  won  now  by  us  in  the  same  and  only  manner  that  they  wene 
won  by  any  people,  or  in  any  age,  since  the  days  of  Joshua — by  boldly 
pursuing  and  striking  the  foe.  What,  under  the  blessings  of  Providence, 
I  conceive  to  be  the  true  organization  of  victory  and  military  combination 
to  end  this  war,  was  declared  in  a  few  words  by  General  Grant's  message 
to  General  Buckner:   "/  propose  to  move  immediately  upon  your  zvorks." 

To  Mr.  Dana,  Stanton  wrote  privately  an  explanation  of  his 
reason  for  sending  the  despatch  :  "It  occurred  to  me  that  your  kind 
notices  of  myself  might  be  perverted  into  a  disparagement  of  the 
Western  ofificers  and  soldiers  to  whom  the  merit  of  the  recent  vic- 
tories justly  belongs,  and  that  it  might  create  an  antagonism  be- 
tween them  and  the  head  of  the  War  Department.  To  avoid  that 
misconstruction  was  the  object  of  my  despatch." 

After  he  had  forwarded  it  he  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Dana  that  his 
revised  judgment  was  against  publishing  the  despatch,  but  it  was 
published  nevertheless.  On  the  day  in  which  it  appeared  the  asso- 
ciated press,  in  reporting  a  meeting  of  railway  officials  and  man- 
agers at  which  Stanton  spoke,  put  certain  words  into  his  mouth. 
Charles  A.  Dana,  doubting  the  accuracy  of  the  report,  sent  it 
to  Stanton,  who,  on  February  23,  replied : 

The  paragraph*  to  which  you  call  my  attention  is  a  ridiculous  and 
impertinent  effort  to  puflF  the  General  by  a  false  publication  of  words  I  never 
uttered.  Sam  Barlow  of  New  York,  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  meeting, 
was  its  author,  as  I  have  been  informed.  It  is  too  small  a  matter  for  me 
to  contradict,  but  I  told  Mr.  Kimlen,  the  other  secretary,  that  I  thought 
the  gentlemen  who  invited  me  to  be  present  at  their  meeting  owed  it  to 
themselves  to  see  that  one  of  their  own  officers  should  not  misrepresent 
what  I  said.  It  was  for  them,  and  due  to  their  own  honor,  to  see  that  an 
officer  of  the  Government  might  communicate  with  them   in   safety.     And 


*Thus  the  associated  press  reported:  "Secretary  Stanton  in  the  course  of 
his  address  paid  a  high  compliment  to  the  young  and  gallant  friend  at  his 
side,  Major-General  McClellan,  in  whom  he  had  the  utmost  confidence,  and 
the  result  of  whose  military  schemes,  gigantic  and  well-matured,  were 
now  exhibited  to  a  rejoicing  country.  The  Secretary,  with  upraised  hands,  im- 
plored Almighty  God  to  aid  them  and  himself,  and  all  occupying  positions 
under  the  Government  in  crushing  out  this  unholy  Rebellion." 


i^k    ^^ 


Gideon  Welles, 
Secretary  of  t/ie  Navy. 


EinvARD  Bates, 
Attorney-  General. 


Wm.  Pitt  Fessenden, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
Secretaiy  of  War. 


Montgomery  Blair, 
Postmaster-  General. 


James  Speed, 
Attorney-  General. 

Members  of  Lincoln's  Cabinet. 


AN  ERA-CREATING  ORDER  131 

if  it  were  not  done,  I  should  take  care  to  offer  no  other  opportunity  for 
such  practises.  The  fact  is  that  the  agents  of  the  associated  press,  and  a 
gang  around  the  Federal  capital,  appear  to  be  organized  for  the  pur- 
pose of  magnifying  their  idol.  If  such  men  as  those  who  compose  the  rail- 
road convention  in  this  city  do  not  rebuke  such  a  practise  as  was  perpetrated 
in  this  instance,  they  cannot  be  conferred  with  in  the  future. 

You  will  of  course  see  the  propriety  of  my  not  noticing  the  matter,  and 
thereby  giving  it  importance  beyond  the  contempt  it  inspires.  I  think  you 
are  well  enough  acquainted  with  me  to  judge  in  the  future  of  the  value  of 
any   such   statement. 

I  notice  that  the  Herald  telegraphic  reporter  announces  that  I  had  a 
second  attack  of  illness  on  Friday  and  could  not  attend  the  Department. 
I  was  in  the  Department,  or  in  cabinet,  from  9  A.  M.  until  9  at  night, 
and  never  enjoyed  more  perfect  health  than  on  that  day  and  at  present. 

Was  it  not  funny  to  see  a  certain  military  hero  [General  McClellan]  in 
the  telegraph  office  at  Washington  last  Sunday  organizing  victory,  and 
by  sublime  military  combinations  capturing  Fort  Donelson  six  hours  after 
Grant  and  Smith  had  taken  it,  sword  in  hand,  and  had  victorious  possession? 
It  would  make  a  picture  worthy  of  Punch. 

Stanton  set  apart  two  rooms  in  the  War  Department  building 
for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  General-in-Chief,  in  order  to  have  the 
two  great  machines  for  putting  forth  the  war-power  working  har- 
moniously hand  in  hand.  At  McClellan's  other  headquarters,  on 
the  corner  of  Jackson  Square,  conspicuous  opponents  of  the  ad- 
ministration and  the  war,  like  George  H.  Pendleton  and  Clement 
L.  Vallandigham  of  Ohio,  Henry  M.  Rice  of  Minnesota,  and  Mil- 
ton S.  Latham  of  California,  together  with  many  private  citizens  of 
like  sympathies,  were  constant  visitors.  To  them,  changing  the 
headquarters  from  a  private  dwelling  to  public  apartments  adjoin- 
ing Stanton's  office,  proved  to  be  very  unsatisfactory,  as  it  did  also 
to  McClellan,  who  says  he  "entered  the  rooms  but  few  times." 

After  almost  a  year  of  silence  Stanton,  on  March  1,  1862,  wrote 
again  to  Buchanan : 

I  hasten  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the  25th,  which 
reached  me  this  morning. 

Several  letters  written  by  me  about  the  time  mentioned  in  yours  failed 
to  reach  their  destination  from  some  unknown  cause.  Into  whatever  hands 
they  may  have  fallen  they  cannot  prejudice  any  one,  inasmuch  as  they 
related  to  facts  that  are  public  and  historic.  I  will  give  directions  to  furnish 
you  with  the  copies  you  desire  without  delay.  But  yours  reminds  me  of 
a  matter  to  which  Judge  Black  called  my  attention  soon  after  the  date  of  my 
letter  to  you  on  the  10th  of  March.  On  his  return  from  a  visit  to  Wheat- 
land, he  surprised  me  by  stating  that  my  letter  to  you  mentioned  that  he  and 
myself  approved  the  order,  issued  to  the  commander  of  the  Brooklyn,  sus- 


132  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

pending  the  debarkation  of  troops  at  Pickens,  whereas  it  was  well  known 
to  yourself  and  every  member  of  the  cabinet  then  present,  that  both  Judge 
Black  and  myself  had  earnestly  opposed  that  order,  and  argued  strongly 
against  it.  And  in  my  correspondence  with  you  it  is  stated  that  on  con- 
ference with  General  Dix  and  Judge  Black  we  coincided  in  our  remembrance 
of  the  fact.  He  accounted  for  the  statement  in  the  letter  by  the  supposition 
that,  in  the  haste  of  writing,  the  word  "not"  was  accidentally  omitted.  From 
one  of  your  letters  to  me  it  appears  that  after  having  the  subject  called 
to  your  attention,  your  remembrance  did  not  differ  from  ours  as  to  the 
fact.  I  nidation  this,  not  as  anything  material  to  you  or  myself,  but  only 
as  due  to  the  truth. 

The  failure  of  my  former  letters  to  reach  you  last  spring  induced  me 
to  suspend  any  correspondence  for  a  considerable  period  upon  political 
subjects,  and  hence  I  omitted  to  write  you  concerning  the  events  then 
and  subsequently   transpiring. 

My  accession  to  my  present  position  was  quite  as  sudden  and  un- 
expected as  the  confidence  you  bestowed  upon  me  in  calling  me  to  your 
cabinet,  and  the  responsible  trust  was  accepted  in  both  instances  from 
the  same  motives,  and  will  be  executed  with  the  same  fidelity  to  the  con- 
stitution  and   laws. 

Your  friend,  Mr.  Flinn,  a  short  time  ago,  showed  me  a  note  to  him 
from  you,  wherein  you  were  kind  enough  to  express  a  favorable  opinion 
of  me  that  gratified  me  exceedingly,  and  it  has  been  in  my  mind  to  make 
acknowledgment,  but  it  has  been  prevented  until  now  by  the  intense 
pressure  of  my  official   engagements. 

You  may  have  noticed  a  resolution  oflfered  a  short  time  ago  by.  Mr. 
Train  in  the  House.*  That  resolution  has  not  yet  been  answered  by  me, 
but  on  inquiry  I  find  it  had  only  in  view  obtaining  a  letter  written  by  a 
subordinate  officer  in  one  of  the  Departments,  involving  no  one  else  but  him- 
self. 

I  thank  you  sincerely  for  the  suggestion  you  make  in  regard  to  writing 
letters.  I  have  written  but  one,t  and  that  was  prompted  by  a  sense  of 
justice  to  others  and  to  disclaim  merit  in  which  I  had  no  share.  The  sug- 
gestion will  be  carefully  heeded. 


*"Resolved:  That  the  Secretary  of  War  be  directed  to  report  to  this 
House  any  correspondence  which  may  be  found  on  the  files  of  his  Depart- 
ment tending  to  show  preparation  by  any  State  for  an  armed  and  treasonable 
rebellion  against  the  Union." 


fPublished  on  Feb.  20,  in  the  New  York  Tribune.—See  p.  129. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
"ARBITRARY  ARRESTS"— GENERAL  STONE. 

The  number  of  arrests  made  under  his  so-called  "arbitrary" 
authority  during  the  war,  including  deserters  and  bounty-jumpers, 
reached  nearly  two  hundred  and  sixty  thousand.  Rank  or  station 
was  no  shield.  When  there  was  a  report  that  General  Judson  Kil- 
patrick  had  seized  livestock  in  Virginia  and  converted  forage  to  his 
private  use,  Stanton  jerked  him  into  the  Old  Capitol  prison  at 
Washington  before  he  could  write  an  explanation.  General  Custer 
went  over  the  same  route  at  the  same  pace,  on  a  similar  charge. 
Subsequently  both  were  released,  but  the  lightning-like  swiftness 
of  their  incarceration  exerted  a  salutary  influence  throughout  the 
army. 

These  so-called  "arbitrary  arrests"  have  always  constituted  a 
fruitful  source  of  complaint  against  Stanton  by  those  who  felt  his 
power  or  opposed  the  war.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there  are  no  "ar- 
bitrary arrests"  within  military  limitations.  Offenses  and  crimes 
against  the  Government  in  time  of  war  are  well  known  and  well  de- 
fined, and  their  authors  and  those  suspected  of  them  may  always  be 
arrested  summarily  by  an  officer  of  the  military  establishment. 
When  Stanton  became  secretary  he  found  the  arrest  and  custody 
of  so-called  "State  prisoners"  in  the  hands  of  the  State  Department, 
and  a  source  of  much  confusion  and  dissatisfaction.  On  February 
14,  1862,  he  issued  an  order  releasing  all  political  prisoners  on  pa- 
role not  to  render  aid  or  comfort  to  the  enemies  of  the  United  States, 
and  declaring  that  "hereafter  all  extraordinary  arrests  will  be  made 
under  the  authority  of  the  military  authorities  alone." 

Nearly  all  civil  courts  resented  military  arrests  outside  of  the 
insurrectionary  districts,  and  many  went  further.  They  declared 
that  the  President  had  not  delegated  his  powers  to  any  other  per- 
son, and  that,  therefore,  all  arrests  made  under  the  orders  of  gen- 
erals or  other  military  officers  were  illegal  and  void.  To  eliminate 
any  cause  for  pretending  to  entertain  this  erroneous  view,  Stanton 
issued  the  following,  on  August  8,  1862 : 


134  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Ordered  1,. — That  all  United  States  marshals  and  superintendents 
and  chiefs  of  police,  of  any  town,  city,  or  district,  be  and  they  are  hereby 
authorized  and  directed  to  arrest  and  imprison  any  person  or  persons  who 
may  be  engaged  by  any  act  of  speech  or  writing  in  discouraging  volunteer 
enlistments  or  in  any  way  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy,  or  in 
any  disloyal  practise  against  the  United  States. 

He  then  requested  the  President  to  issue  a  general  proclama- 
tion suspending  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  respect  to  "all  rebels 
and  insurgents,  their  aiders  and  abettors  within  the  United  States, 
and  all  persons  discouraging  volunteer  enlistments,  resisting  mili- 
tary drafts,  or  guilty  of  any  disloyal  practises,  or  affording  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  rebels  against  the  authority  of  the  United  States/' 
which  was  done  on  the  24th  of  September,  1862. 

The  next  moment  he  created  a  new  Department  in  the  mili- 
tary service  and  appointed  a  provost  marshal  general  (J.  B.  Fry) 
with  subordinate  provost  marshals  in  the  several  States,  charged 
with  arresting  deserters  and  disloyal  persons  and  "inquiring  into 
and  suppressing  treasonable  practises  throughout  the  country." 
Referring  to  military  arrests  in  his  report  to  Congress  of  December, 
1862,  he  said : 

While  military  arrests  of  disloyal  persons  form  a  subject  of  complaint 
in  some  States,  the  discharge  of  such  persons  is  complained  of  in  other 
States.  It  has  been  the  aim  of  the  Department  to  avoid  any  encroachment 
upon  individual  rights,  as  far  as  may  be  consistent  with  public  safety  and 
the  preservation  of  the  Government.  But  reflecting  minds  will  see  that  no 
greater  encouragement  can  be  given  to  the  enemy,  no  more  dangerous 
act  of  hostility  can  be  perpetrated  in  this  war,  than  efforts  to  prevent 
recruiting  and  enlisting  for  the  armies,  upon  whose  strength  national 
existence  depends.  The  expectations  of  rebel  leaders  and  their  sym- 
pathizers in  loyal  States  that  the  call  for  volunteers  would  not  be 
answered,  and  that  the  draft  could  not  be  enforced,  have  failed,  and  nothing 
is  left  but  to  clamor  at  the  means  by  which  their  hopes  were  frustrated, 
and  to  strive  to  disarm  the  Government  in  future  if,  in  the  chances  of 
war,  another  occasion  for  increasing  the  military  forces  should  arise. 

Writs  of  habeas  corpus  to  release  those  arrested  under  military 
authority  continued  to  be  issued  in  great  numbers,  many  courts 
declaring  that  "the  military  must  be  held  subordinate  to  the  ju- 
diciary" in  order  to  "protect  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people" 
— "people"  meaning  those  who  opposed  the  war,  and  "rights  and 
liberties"  meaning  license  to  carry  out  disloyal  purposes.  There- 
upon Stanton  issued  orders  that  such  writs  should  be  obeyed  when 
issued  by  Federal  but  ignored  when  issued  by  State  courts,  sus^ 


"ARBITRARY  ARRESTS"— GENERAL  STONE  133 

tained  therein  by  a  ruling  by  Chief  Justice  Taney,  a  pro-slavery 
Democrat,  in  the  slave-catching  case  of  Ableman  vs.  Booth,  from 
Wisconsin,  in  which  the  decision  was  that  United  States  marshals 
were  not  bound  to  heed  the  processes  of  State  courts,  but  if  neces- 
sary, must  resist  them. 

More  than  once  Stanton  took  official  notice  of  the  hostility  of  a 
large  section  of  the  judiciary.  On  June  1,  1863,  in  a  letter  asking 
Secretary  Seward  to  see  the  United  States  District  Attorney  for 
New  York  and  urge  him  to  "lend  the  aid  of  his  office  in  enforcing 
the  laws,"  he  declared :  "There  never  has  been  any  assistance  ren- 
dered by  civil  [judicial]  officers  to  the  Government  in  this  war 
where  they  could  get  a  colorable  pretext  for  withholding  it." 

A  few  days  later,  in  a  communication  to  the  President  concern- 
ing the  question  of  restricting  the  "interference  of  State  courts 
with  persons  held  in  military  custody  by  force,"  he  said :  "There  ap- 
pears to  be  an  evident  design  on  the  part  of  some  individuals  holding 
judicial  stations  in  different  States,  including  Pennsylvania,  to  ex- 
ercise their  powers  in  hostility  to  the  general  Government  in  its 
efforts  to  repress  the  Rebellion,  and  especially  with  the  view  of 
preventing  the  operation  of  the  draft  and  encouraging  desertion." 

To  Governor  Tod  of  Ohio,  he  wrote :  "The  courts,  which  might 
do  so  much  for,  are  generally  a  hindrance  to  military  operations ; 
and  in  the  time  of  war  war-operations  are  paramount,  if  we  are  to 
save  the  Government." 

The  famous  case  of  General  C.  P.  Stone,  under  whom,  on  Oc- 
tober 22,  1861,  was  fought  the  disastrous  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff, 
has  been  a  permanent  basis  for  attacking  Stanton.  Immediately 
after  that  engagement  men  in  the  command  wrote  to  John  A.  An- 
drew, governor  of  Massachusetts,  that  Stone  was  in  the  habit 
of  returning  escaped  slaves  to  their  masters,  forwarding  Confeder- 
ate mail,  and  associating  with  secessionists.  Andrew  replied  that 
Stone's  orders  in  respect  to  such  matters  should  not  be  obeyed ; 
Stone  wrote  to  the  adjutant-general  protesting  against  State  in- 
terference ;  the  adjutant-general  transmitted  the  protest  to  Andrew ; 
Andrew  forwarded  it  to  Senator  Charles  Sumner;  Sumner  de- 
nounced Stone  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate ;  Stone  wrote  a  letter  to 
Sumner  intended  to  bring  on  a  duel,  and  Sumner  turned  the  letter 
over  to  Cameron,  then  secretary  of  war. 

Out  of  the  discussion  thus  precipitated  grew  the  famous  Com- 
mittee on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  headed  by  the  resolute  and  fear- 


136  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

less  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  who  at  once  began  to  take  testimony  con- 
cerning the  case.  A  prima  facie  basis  for  court-martial  proceed- 
ings was  established,  and  Stanton,  who  had  just  succeeded  Cam- 
eron as  secretary  of  war,  ordered  General  McClellan  to  cause 
Stone's  arrest  and  imprisonment*  on  the  record  and  report  pre- 
sented. 

In  addition  to  written  testimony  and  evidence,  the  advice  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  and  the  demands  of  Gov- 
ernor Andrew,  which  he  could  not  disregard,  Stanton  possessed 
sources  of  information  not  open  to  others.  A  sister  of  two  of  the 
mulatto  slaves  returned  by  Stone  was  a  servant  in  the  home  of 
Adjutant-General  Townsend  and  disclosed  that  Mrs.  Stone  was 
acquainted  with  or  related  to  the  owners  of  the  slaves  and  with 
other  secessionists  in  the  vicinity,  which  fact  influenced  her  hus- 
band to  establish  a  friendly  intercourse  with  people  not  loyal  to 
the  Government.  Even  if  devoid  of  disloyal  purposes,  this  inter- 
course, because  it  could  not  be  explained,  was  demoralizing  to  the 
army  and  irritating  to  the  country. 

Stone  was  confined  at  Fort  Lafayette,  near  New  York,  during 
a  period  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  days,  without  trial.  He 
was  liberated  on  August  16,  by  the  operation  of  the  act  of  July  17, 
1862.  A  year  or  more  later  he  resigned  his  commission  and  entered 
the  service  of  the  Khedive  of  Egypt  to  become  Stone  Pasha. 

That  there  was  no  escape  from  ordering  his  arrest  is  beyond 
question  ;t  and,  if  his  long  imprisonment  without  trial  seems  un- 
just, the  truth  remains  that  the  episode  wrought  great  good  to  the 
service.  It  taught  officers  who  were  socially  mingling  and  sympa- 
thizing with  and  personally  favoring  secessionists,  that  they  could 
not  serve  both  God  and  Mammon.  It  resulted  in  an  additional  ar- 
ticle of  war  which  forbade  any  officer  from  using  or  permitting 


*On  p.  50,  Part  II.,  "Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,"  General  Mc- 
Clellan testified:  "On  the  day  of  the  arrest,  a  written  report  was  made 
to  me  of  the  examination  of  a  refugee  from  Leesburg,  which,  so  far  as  such 
a  thing  could,  tended  to  corroborate  some  of  the  charges  made  against 
General  Stone.  I  satisfied  my  mind  by  personal  examination  of  the 
sincerity  of  the  refugee,  and  then  showed  the  statement  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  upon  which  he  directed  me  to  give  the  order  to  arrest  General  Stone 
immediately." 


tLincoln  stated  in  a  message  on  the  subject  to  Congress:  "Whether 
he  [Stone]  be  guilty  or  innocent,  circumstances  required,  as  appears  to 
me,  such  proceedings  to  be  had  against  him  for  the  public  safety." 


John  Tucker, 
Assistant  Secretaiy  of  War. 


"ARBITRARY  ARRESTS"— GENERAL  STONE  137 

the  use  of  his  command  to  catch  and  return  fugitive  slaves  on  pain 
of  dismissal,  and  established  the  famous  Committee  on  the  Con- 
duct of  the  War,  each  member  of  which  was  provided  with  a  card 
of  admission  to  Stanton's  room  "at  all  times." 

Stanton  possessed  an  unconquerable  purpose  to  put  down  the 
Rebellion  and  restore  the  Union ;  but  he  must  have  men,  money, 
supplies,  and  munitions  to  do  it  with,  which  came  alone  from 
Congress  and  the  governors  and  legislatures  of  the  loyal  States. 
Governor  Andrew  stated  bluntly  that  Massachusetts  would  raise 
and  equip  no  more  troops  if  they  were  to  be  placed  under  such 
commanders  as  Stone,  and  was  sustained  in  that  position  by  the 
other  loyal  governors,  the  press,  and  the  majority  of  Congress. 
Stanton  must  either  shut  up  Stone  or  shut  off  enlistments  in  Massa- 
chusetts and  dampen  military  ardor  throughout  the  North.  He 
made  no  mistake  in  siding  with  Congress  and  the  executives  of  loy- 
al States. 

As  to  holding  Stone  in  long  imprisonment  without  trial,  Stan- 
ton himself  declared :  "To  hold  one  commander  in  prison  untried 
is  less  harmful  in  times  of  great  national  distress  than  to  withdraw 
several  good  officers  from  active  battle-fields  to  give  him  a  trial. 
Individuals  are  nothing ;  we  are  contributing  thousands  of  them  to 
save  the  Union,  and  General  Stone  in  Fort  Lafayette  is  doing  his 
share  in  that  direction." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
SUCCEEDS  McCLELLAN  AS  GENERAL-IN-CHIEF. 

General  George  B.  McClellan,  who  was  brought  to  Washing- 
ton by  General  Scott  on  the  26th  of  July,  1861,  and  on  November 
1  was  given  command  of  all  the  armies  of  the  Union,  had  not  yet 
made  a  decisive  move  with  his  splendid  legions. 

The  Federal  Treasury  was  on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy ;  capital- 
ists were  frightened,  patriots  discouraged.  Stanton,  coming  into 
the  arena  fresh  from  the  masses,  comprehended  the  dangerous 
trend  of  affairs  and  gave  articulation  to  the  wrath  of  the  people.  He 
said  to  Lincoln :  "You  are  commander-in-chief  under  the  constitu- 
tion and  must  act  as  such  or  the  Government  is  lost.  You  must  or- 
der McClellan  to  move.  I  think  he  will  obey ;  if  not,  put  some  one 
in  his  place  who  will  obey." 

Lincoln,  acting  promptly,  drew  with  his  own  hand  "Presi- 
dential Order  No.  1"  and  Stanton  prepared  the  famous  Special 
Order  No.  1  of  January  27,  1862,  for  a  general  advance  against  the 
insurgent  forces  on  the  22d  of  February  following — the  day  on 
which  Davis  was  to  be  installed  at  Richmond — ending  thus:  "Es- 
pecially the  Secretaries  of  War  and  Navy,  with  all  their  subordin- 
ates, and  the  General-in-Chief  *  *  *  ^JH  severally  be 
held  to  strict  and  full  responsibility  for  the  prompt  execution  of  this 
order." 

Although  specially  mentioning  the  Secretaries  of  War  and 
Navy,  McClellan  assumed  that  the  order  was  really  intended  for 
himself  alone,  so  he  alone  objected  to  its  execution.  On  the 
3d  of  February  Stanton  received  from  him  a  voluminous  memo- 
randum of  objections,  one  of  the  principal  ones  being  the  "uncer- 
tainty of  the  weather."  So  emphatic  was  McClellan  that  Lincoln, 
contrary  to  Stanton's  advice,  agreed  to  submit  his  own  general 
plans  of  advance  with  McClellan's,  to  a  council  of  twelve  generals. 

The  council  consisted  of  Generals  Fitz-John  Porter,  Franklin, 
W.  F.  Smith,  McCall,  Blenker,  Andrew  Porter,  Negley,  and  Keyes 
who  voted  for,  and   McDowell,  Sumner,  Heintzelman,   and   Bar- 


SUCCEEDS  McCLELLAN  AS  GENERAL-IN-CHIEF  139 

nard*  who  voted  against  the  McCIellan  plan. 

In  debating  the  judgment  of  this  council  the  President  said  to 
Stanton :  "We  can  do  nothing  else  than  adopt  this  plan,  and  dis- 
card all  others.  With  eight  out  of  twelve  division  commanders 
approving  we  can't  reject  it  and  adopt  another   without  assuming 

ALL  THE  RESPONSIBILITY  IN  THE  CASE  OF  THE  FAILURE  OF  THE  ONE  WE 

ADOPT."  Stanton  replied  that  while  agreeing  with  the  President's 
conclusion,  he  dissented  from  his  arithmetic,  because  the  generals 
who  voted  against  the  proposed  plan  were  independent  of  the  influ- 
ence of  the  commanding  general,  while  the  others  owed  their  promo- 
tions to  him  and  were  especially  under  his  influence,  voting  his  wish 
as  one  man  rather  than  their  own  judgments;  so  that,  instead  of 
eight  to  four,  there  was  really  but  one  to  four.  Lincoln  admitted  the 
truth  of  this  remark,  but,  to  avoid  friction  and  responsibility,  de- 
cided to  approve  the  plan  endorsed  eight  to  four  by  the  council  of 
generals,  and  on  March  8  orders  were  issued  bidding  McCIellan 
make  the  proposed  move  "as  early  as  the  18th  of  March  inst." 

On  the  following  day  the  public  learned  that  the  Confederate 
general  had  voluntarily  abandoned  his  entrenchments  at  Manassas 
Junction,  in  front  of  Washington,  a  position  he  had  been  holding 
unmolested,  "as  a  matter  of  cheek,"  with  a  small  force  of  poorly 
fed  troops — including  wooden  guns  and  stuflfed  soldiers !  McCIel- 
lan, who  had  all  along  claimed  the  enemy's  force  to  be  superior  in 
numbers  to  his  own,t  now  moved  out  for  the  purpose,  he  said,  of 
"getting  rid  of  superfluous  baggage"  and  "giving  the  troops  some 
experience  on  the  march !" 


*In  "Peninsular  Campaigns,"  General  J.  C  Barnard,  McClellan's  chief 
of  engineers,"  says  of  the  council:  "To  my  great  surprise,  eight  of  the 
twelve  officers  present  voted,  off-hand,  for  the  measure,  without  discussion; 
nor  was  any  argument  on  my  part  available  to  secure  a  reconsideration." 


tStanton,  learning  that  McClellan's  claim  that  the  Confederate  forces 
between  Washington  and  Richmond  numbered  240,000  men  could  not  be 
true,  requested  General  B.  F.  Butler  to  prepare  a  statement,  on  the  best 
obtainable  evidence,  of  the  enemy's  strength  about  Washington  and  else- 
where, and  submit  it  for  use.  Butler's  report  showed  that  the  entire  army 
menacing  Washington  could-  not  exceed  70,000.  Years  afterward,  when 
the  War  Department  gave  out  the  records  for  both  armies,  it  was  seen 
that  even  General  Butler  had  over-estimated  the  Confederate  force.  Mc- 
CIellan had,  "present  for  duty,"  185,420  "officers  and  men,"  and  534  pieces  of 
artillery — much  of  it  the  finest  the  world  aflforded.  The  Confederate  force 
for  the  same  moment,  "present  for  duty,"  was  47,617,  with  perhaps  50  or  60 
pieces  of  artillery. 


140  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

But  even  this  quest  for  "experience"  was  not  made  without  pro- 
tests. On  the  9th  he  telegraphed  to  Stanton  that  he  wished  to  sus- 
pend a  portion  of  the  President's  order.  To  this  Stanton  instantly 
replied :  "I  think  it  is  the  duty  of  every  officer  to  obey  the  Presi- 
dent's orders,  and  I  cannot  see  why  you  should  not  obey  them  in  the 
present  instance.     I  must  therefore  decline  to  suspend  them." 

But  IMcClellan  insisted  and  on  the  10th  Stanton  yielded,  saying: 

General: 

I  do  not  understand  the  President's  order  as  restraining  you 
from  any  military  movement  by  division  or  otherwise  that  circumstances 
in  your  judgment  may  render  expedient,  and  I  certainly  do  not  wish 
to  delay  or  change  any  movements  whatever  that  you  have  made  or  desire 
to  make.  I  only  wish  to  avoid  giving  my  sanction  to  the  suspension  of 
a  policy  which  the  President  has  ordered  to  be  pursued.  But  if  you  think 
that  the  terms  of  the  order  as  it  stands  would  operate  to  retard  or  in  any 
way  restrain  movements  that  circumstances  require  to  be  made  before 
any  corps  are  formed,  I  will  assume  the  responsibility  of  suspending  the 
order  for  that  purpose  and  authorize  you  to  make  any  movement  by 
division  or  otherwise,  according  to  your  own  judgment. 

My  desire  is  that  you  should  exercise  every  power  that  you  think 
present  circumstances  require  to  be  exercised,  without  delay;  but  I  want 
you  and  me  not  to  seem  desirous  of  opposing  an  order  by  the  President 
without  necessity.  I  say,  therefore,  move  just  as  you  think  best  now  and 
let  the  other  matter  stand  until  it  can  be  accomplished  without  impeding 
movements. 

In  reply  he  received  a  telegram  of  thanks  which  also  announced 
that  "the  troops  are  in  motion."  But  it  all  meant  nothing,  and 
at  the  next  cabinet  meeting  Stanton  declared  that  "something 
must  be  done  to  relieve  the  other  armies  and  the  country  of  the 
Potomac  incubus."  So  insistent  was  he  that  Lincoln  (on  March  11) 
issued  an  order  stating  that  "Major-General  McClellan,  having  per- 
sonally taken  the  field  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  is 
relieved  of  the  command  of  the  other  military  Departments,  re- 
taining the  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Potomac."  The  or- 
der also  required  all  Department  commanders  to  report  direct  to  the 
Secretary  of  War. 

McClellan  was  greatly  exasperated  by  this  order,  and  his  par- 
tisans instituted  a  series  of  venomous  attacks  on  Stanton  which 
have  not  ceased  to  this  day.  Blaine,  in  "Twenty  Years  of  Con- 
gress," declared  the  order  was  an  "egregious  blunder,"  and  other 
equally  famous  military  experts  have  denounced  Stanton  for  "as- 
suming" and  "usurping"  the  functions  of  general-in-chief,  as  if  the 


Gen.  John  Cochrane. 


SUCCEEDS  McCLELLAN  AS  GENERAL-IN-CHIEF  141 

Secretary  of  War  were,  and  ought  to  be,  nothing  more  than  a  clerk 
to  the   general   commanding. 

But  Stanton  neither  "usurped"  nor  "assumed"  the  functions  of 
general-in-chief.  McClellan  was  acknowledged  to  be  a  failure;  the 
nation  was  disgusted  and  clamorous ;  Chase  was  complaining  that 
he  could  "grind  out  no  more  money"  without  the  backing  of  military 
success  or  activity;  there  was  bitter  jealousy  among  the  leading 
generals,  not  one  of  whom  was  conspicuous  above  his  fellows,  and 
something  had  to  be  done.  One  secretary  favored  promoting  this 
and  another  that  general.  Stanton  suggested,  "Let  a  leader  de- 
velop," Lincoln  said:  "Let  us  make  the  Secretary  of  War  general- 
in-chief,"  and  every  member  of  the  cabinet  instantly  voted  in  favor 
of  the  happy  and  lawful  proposition. 

Stanton  accepted  the  responsibility  and  showed  both  his  wis- 
dom and  forbearance  by  advising  against  appointing  a  new  gen- 
eral-in-chief, for  a  time,  in  order  to  "avoid  offending  or  humiliating 
McClellan"  and  to  hold  the  place  open  for  him  should  he  "win  a 
victory,  or  so  conduct  the  army  as  to  be  entitled  to  reinstatement." 
Thus,  while  McClellan's  partisans  were  denouncing  and  be-lying 
Stanton,  Stanton  was  trying  to  save  their  idol — should  he  prove 
worth  saving. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
THE  FAMOUS  "MORNING  HOUR." 

In-order  to  have  the  remainder  of  the  day  free  from  interrupt- 
tions,  Stanton  arranged  to  give  an  hour  every  morning  to  the 
"pubHc."  This  morning  hour  is  remembered  more  vividly  by  the 
masses  than  any  other  feature  of  his  incumbency,  and  showed  quite 
as  well  as  any  his  enormous  capacity  for  adaptation,  organization, 
comprehension,  and  despatch.  No  preparation  for  taking  care  of 
the  heterogeneous  business  that  was  to  be  considered  could  be 
made,  for  no  one  knew  what  was  coming. 

Standing  on  a  small  platform  near  a  high  desk  at  one  end  of 
the  large  reception  room,  with  a  messenger  to  deliver  papers,  he 
separated  the  sheep  from  the  goats,  the  wheat  from  the  tares,  with 
a  decisiveness  and  rapidity  that  was  marvelous.  Contractors, 
claimants,  sick,  wounded,  cranks,  chaplains,  crooks,  kickers,  spies, 
politicians,  constitution-savers,  office-seekers,  Cyprians  after  passes, 
sorrowing  widows,  broken-hearted  fathers,  convicts,  deserters,  dis- 
missed or  suspended  officers — everybody  came  cocked  and  primed 
for  a  bout  with  the  Secretary — and  got  it. 

"Of  all  his  duties,  those  of  the  reception  room  were  the  most 
annoying  and  distasteful,"  says  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  his  con- 
fidential clerk.  "Here  he  brought  upon  himself  much  censure  and 
enmity  for  his  abruptness,  his  swift  decisions,  and  his  firmness. 
But  with  him  the  success  of  his  armies  overshadowed  everything 
else ;  that  was  all  he  was  working  for."    Major  Johnson  continues : 

At  the  time  President  Lincoln  was  dissatisfied  with  the  failure  of  Meade 
to  pursue  and  fight  Lee,  as  he  should  have  done  after  the  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg, an  incident  occurred  which  sent  a  thrill  of  astonishment  through  the 
building.  A  Western  man  with  a  note  from  the  President  proposed  that  the 
Secretary  consider  replacing  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  with  the  Army  of 
the  West.  Stanton  blurted  out  that  if  the  President  made  that  recommen- 
dation, he  was  a  fool,*  which  settled  the  Westerner — he  took  his  papers 
and  left. 


♦When,  an   hour  later,   the   Westerner   repeated   Stanton's    remark   to 


THE  FAMOUS  "MORNING  HOUR"  143 

"Sunset"  Cox  was  the  only  person  who  ever  kept  his  hat  on  in  the  re- 
ception room,  and  I  always  thought  it  was  because  he  was  afraid  to  encoun- 
ter Mr.  Stanton  except  under  preparation  for  immediate  retreat. 

While  Senator  Trumbull  of  Chicago  was  presenting  some  matter  to  the 
Secretary,  the  two  became  greatly  excited  and  by  some  accidental  move- 
ment Mr.  Stanton  knocked  the  ink-stand  off  the  high  table  and  spilled  the 
black  fluid  all  about.  On  returning  to  his  room  he  at  once  sent  a  note  of 
apology,  but  the  senator  never  forgave  him,  and,  at  the  impeachment  trial 
of  President  Johnson,  got  even  by  turning  against  his  party  and  his  State 
and  voting  for  Johnson,  which,  of  course,  was  voting  against  Mr.  Stanton. 

Often  when  Mr.  Stanton  came  from  the  reception  room,  he  washed  his 
face  and  perfumed  his  flowing  whiskers  with  cologne  in  order  to  get  rid  of 
the  remains  of  some  offensive  breath  he  had  encountered. 

On  one  occasion  he  came  from  the  reception  room  with  his  nose  bleed- 
ing and  sent  me  to  bring  Surgeon-General  Barnes.  He  was  somewhat 
alarmed  at  the  free  flow  of  blood,  but  General  Barnes  soon  stopped  it  by 
cracked  ice,  and  he  went  on  as  before. 

At  one  particular  reception  Stanton  espied  a  soldier-boy, 
ragged,  dirty,  and  evidently  in  ill  health,  leaning  against  the  wall 
as  if  too  feeble  to  stand  alone.  Regardless  of  the  officers  crowded 
about  him,  he  called  the  boy  to  him  saying:  "Well,  my  lad,  what 
can  I  do  for  you?" 

The  soldier,  without  a  word,  drew  a  letter  and  handed  it  to 
the  Secretary.  Hastily  reading  it,  Stanton  cried:  "I  would  rather 
be  worthy  of  this  letter  than  have  the  highest  commission  in  the 
army  of  the  United  States,"  and  then  read  aloud  the  communi- 
cation, which  was  an  appeal  from  General  George  H.  Thomas  in 
behalf  of  the  bearer  and  survivor  of  the  men  sent  South  by  Gen- 
eral O.  M.  Mitchell  to  burn  the  bridges  and  destroy  the  railway 
communications  of  the  Confederates  before  the  battle  of  Shiloh. 
The  youth's  companions  had  been  caught  and  hanged  and  he  es- 
caped more  dead  than  alive.  Reaching  the  Union  lines,  nearly  a 
year  elapsed  before  he  was  able  to  leave  the  hospital,  and  Gen- 
eral Thomas  urged  that  he  be  rewarded.  Again  turning  to  the  boy 
Stanton  asked,  with  considerable  emotion  in  his  voice,  what  he 
wanted. 

"Let  me  go  home." 

"You  shall  go  home,  and  when  you  return  to  the  army  it  shall 
be  as  an  officer.  This  is  the  sort  of  devotion  that  is  needed  in  the 
service." 


Lincoln,  he   received  this   characteristic   reply:     "If  Mr.    Stanton    said   the 
President  is  a  fool,  it  must  be  so,  for  the  Secretary  is  generally  right." 


144  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

In  the  spring  of  1862,  when  the  Fourth  Wisconsin  embarked 
from  Newport  News  to  join  General  Butler  at  New  Orleans,  Cor- 
poral Nathan  Cole  was  left  behind  to  die,  as  was  supposed,  of 
typhoid  pneumonia.  A  telegram  to  that  effect  was  sent  to  his 
father,  Charles  D.  Cole,  at  Sheboygan  Falls.  The  aged  and  stricken 
parent  took  the  first  train  for  Washington,  not  even  waiting  to 
change  his  suit.  Although  at  that  time  all  passes  had  been  for- 
bidden except  to  persons  engaged  in  the  military  service,  he  joined 
the  throng  gathered  to  see  the  Secretary  of  War,  for  there  was  no 
alternative  but  to  apply  for  a  pass.  Weary,  depressed,  and  almost 
hopeless,  especially  when  he  observed  Stanton  tossing  off  his  vis- 
itors with  the  energy  of  a  cyclone,  he  waited  his  turn.  As  it  was 
about  to  come,  a  stylishly  dressed  contractor  pushed  him  aside  and 
stepped  into  his  place  in  the  advancing  line. 

"Very  well,  sir ;  go  ahead,  if  your  business  is  more  important 
than  mine,"  said  Mr.  Cole,  who  was  small  and  lame. 

"Stand  aside,  there!"  shouted  Stanton  to  the  contractor,  and 
then,  changing  as  quick  as  a  flash  to  kindness  and  consideration, 
leaned  over,  extending  his  hand,  and  inquired  of  the  white-haired 
father:  "What  can  I  do  for  you,  sir?" 

In  a  few  trembling  words  the  old  gentleman  made  known  the 
object  of  his  long  journey  and  began  to  search  his  pockets  ner- 
vously for  letters  from  Senator  T.  O.  Howe  and  Governor  Edward 
Salomon.  Before  he  could  find  them  Stanton  grasped  a  large  enve- 
lope and  wrote  the  following,  which  he  held  forth  while  attending 
to  the  succeeding  visitor:  "Pass  Charles  D,  Cole,  a  citizen  of  Wis- 
consin, to  Newport  News,  Virginia,  to  visit  his  son,  a  soldier  sick 
in  the  hospital  there.  All  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  United  States 
will  show  Mr.  Cole  due  courtesy  and  attention." 

The  stylish  but  hoggish  contractor,  as  a  penalty  for  his  un- 
just conduct,  was  not  permitted  to  state  his  business  until  Stanton 
had  attended  to  every  other  person  in  the  assemblage. 

Young  Cole  recovered  and  in  Sheboygan,  Wisconsin,  his  home, 
no  one  can  speak  with  impunity  against  Secretary  Stanton. 

During  1862,  William  Stanton  Buchanan  went  to  Washington 
to  procure  a  contract  for  his  townsman  James  Phillips  of  Wheeling, 
to  cast  ball  and  shell.  "I  went,"  he  relates,  "to  the  Secretary's 
house.  In  the  evening,  when  Mr.  Stanton  came  home,  I  thought  I 
would  further  my  business  by  mentioning  a  few  points  in  regard 
to  it.     He  replied:  'William,  no  talk  on  business  here.     I'll  hear 


Gen.  Gideun  J.  i'a.i.  .\\,  C.  S.  A.  <^en.  J.  E.  B.  Stuart.  C.S.  A. 


Gen.  John  B.  Magruder.  C.  S.  A.  Gen.  D.  H.  Hill.  C.  S.  A. 


Confederate  "Quaker"  (Wooden)  Guns. 


THE  FAMOUS  "MORNING  HOUR"  145 

you  at  the  Department  tomorrow.'  I  prepared  a  statement  of  my 
application  and  went  to  the  W?.r  Department  and  was  received 
among  the  hundreds  as  though  I  had  not  known  him  intimately 
and  fondly  from  childhood  nor  passed  the  previous  night  in  his 
house.  In  his  public  duties  he  knew  no  friends  or  foes  except  the 
friends  and  foes  of  his  country." 

A  remarkable  feature  of  these  morning  receptions  was  that 
no  matter  how  numerous  the  callers,  Stanton  managed  to  dis- 
pose of  every  case  within  the  hour.  On  entering  the  room,  while 
passing  to  his  desk,  he  made  a  quick  calculation  of  the  number 
present  and  the  amount  of  time  he  could  give  to  each,  and  gauged 
his  work  accordingly.  Occasionally  Lincoln  dropped  in  to  see 
"Old  Mars,"  as  he  called  Stanton,  "quell  disturbances" — a  feature 
of  no  previous  or  succeeding  administration,  and  one  which  kept 
Stanton  more  closely  in  touch  with  the  masses  than  any  other  that 
he  could  have  adopted. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 
APPROVES  McCLELLAN'S  PLANS. 

Having  prevented  the  forward  movement  fixed  for  Washing- 
ton's birthday  and  secured  a  reconstruction  of  the  President's  plan 
as  well  as  a  modification  of  the  order  of  March  8,  McClellan  still 
refused  to  obey  the  command  to  go  ahead  under  his  own  plan.  On 
the  13th  he  assembled  a  "council  of  generals"  at  Fairfax  Court-house 
to  "consider  the  military  situation."  The  handful  of  Confederates 
at  Manassas  having  quietly  withdrawn,  so  that  he  had  no  "vastly 
superior  forces"  to  cow  him  into  inaction,  the  council  formulated 
a  new  plan  based  on  a  movement  from  Old  Point  Comfort,  a  naval 
display  against  the  forts  on  the  York  River,  "neutralizing"  the 
Merriniac*  and  leaving  force  enough  about  Washington  to  "give  a 
feeling  of  entire  security  for  its  safety."  When  this  had  been  agreed 
upon,  McClellan  telegraphed  to  Stanton  that  McDowell  was  en 
route  to  submit  it  for  approval.  Stanton  instantly  responded : 
"Whatever  plan  has  been  agreed  upon,  proceed  at  once  to  execute 
it  without  waiting  an  hour  for  my  approval." 

When  McDowell  arrived  with  the  details,  Stanton  advised  Lin- 
coln that  the  new  plan  or  nothing  would  have  to  be  accepted  and 
telegraphed  to  McClellan  that  it  was  approved,  but  that  in  choosing 
a  new  base  of  operations  he  must  "leave  Washington  entirely  se- 
cure" and  a  sufficiently  large  force  at  Manassas  so  the  "enemy  shall 
not  repossess  himself  of  that  position  and  line  of  communication." 
The  closing  paragraph  declared : 

3.  Move  the  remainder  of  the  force  down  the  Potomac,  choosing  a  new 
base  at  Fortress  Monroe,  or  anywhere  between  here  and  there;  or,  at  all 
events  move  such  remainder  of  the  army  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy  by  some 
route. 


*The  Merriniac  blockaded  the  James  River  after  McClellan  was  ordered 
to  advance  upon  Richmond,  thus  increasing  the  difficulties  of  carrying  out 
his  own  plan  and  the  dangers  attendant  upon  making  Fortress  Monroe  his 
base. 


APPROVES  McCLELLAN'S  PLANS  147 

Still  there  were  objections  and  complaints.  McClellan  wanted 
to  know  what  would  become  of  General  Wool's  authority  at 
Fortress  Monroe  in  case  he  himself  should  ever  reach  that  place 
and  make  it  his  base  of  operations.  Stanton  telegraphed  at  5:20 
that  day,  the  13th  : 

General  Wool  will  be  relieved  from  command  whenever  you  desire  to 
assume  it  and  if  you  determine  to  make  Fortress  Monroe  your  base  of 
operations  you  shall  have  control  of  the  forces  under  General  Burnside. 
All  the  forces  and  means  of  the  Government  will  be  at  your  disposal. 

An  hour  later  Stanton  telegraphed  again : 

General  Patrick  was  nominated  upon  your  request.  I  took  the  nomina- 
tion myself  to  the  President  and  saw  him  sign  it  and  I  will  go  to  the 
Senate  to-morrow  to  urge  confirmation.  Any  others  you  may  designate 
will  receive  like  attention.  Nothing  you  can  ask  of  me  or  of  this  Depart- 
ment to  aid  you  in  any  particular  will  be  spared. 

The  next  morning  before  8  o'clock  Stanton  ordered  General 
Wool,  who  ranked  McClellan,  to  submit  to  an  inferior  commander, 
and  before  9  o'clock  had  informed  McClellan  that  the  order  would 
be  complied  with. 

It  is  possible  to  go  on  almost  indefinitely  with  evidence  from 
official  and  private  records  to  prove  that  Stanton  did  everything 
within  his  power  to  satisfy  and  strengthen  McClellan  whenever  it 
was  supposed  there  was  to  be  a  forward  movement,  remaining  in 
his  office  night  and  day  to  answer  telegrams  and  grant  requests. 

"Of  course  I  had  an  inside  view  of  many  things  that  passed 
between  Stanton  and  McClellan  and  the  other  generals,"  says  L.  A. 
Somers  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  an  expert  telegraph  operator  stationed 
in  the  War  Department.  "Stanton  put  forth  his  energies  to  help 
McClellan,  to  satisfy  him  with  men  and  materials.  His  constant 
questions  were — and  many  of  them  I  sent  and  received  with  my 
own  hands — 'What  can  I  do  for  you?'  'What  do  you  need?'  " 

What  were  the  results?  Fiddling,  dawdling,  telegraphing, 
complaining,  protesting,  advising,  wanting,  objecting.  Up  to  this 
time,  too,  the  fortifications  around  Richmond  had  been  little  bet- 
ter than  works  of  straw,  so  that  at  any  moment  when  Lee  was 
absent,  the  Confederate  capital  could  have  been  taken  without 
firing  a  gun.* 

*Before  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  General  Gilman 
Marston  and  others  testified  that  an  attempt  to  take   Richmond  after  the 


148  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

On  April  3,  Stanton  suspended  recruiting  for  new  regiments, 
closed  the  stations  and  ordered  the  officers  in  charge  to  the  front. 
On  page  9  of  McClellan's  *'Own  Story,"  this  is  described  as  "a 
blunder  unparalleled  in  military  history,  as  well  as  a  crime."  On 
page  258,  he  says  it  "proved  either  a  desire  for  failure  of  the  cam- 
paign or  entire  incompetence." 

McClellan  also  condemned  a  subsequent  draft  based  upon  en- 
rolment, saying  it  was  an  "unnecessary  disturbance  of  all  the  re- 
lations of  society  and  the  business  interests  of  the  country" — a 
statement  so  absurd  as  to  carry  in  its  own  words  its  own  refutation. 
He  said  further  as  to  the  draft:  "The  numbers  called  out  were  ab- 
surdly large."  Yet  in  a  previous  official  "memorandum"  to  Lin- 
coln he  recommended  a  "display  of  overwhelming  strength,"  and  in 
nearly  every  letter,  telegram,  and  conversation  after  Stanton  be- 
came secretary  of  war  he  called  for  "more  troops,"  "reinforce- 
ments," "one  hundred  thousand  more  men,"  "all  you  can  spare," 
"more  recruits."  He  denounced  Stanton  for  enrolling  while  he  him- 
self never  ceased  calling  for  more  men ! 

On  April  3  McClellan  announced  from  Fortress  Monroe  that  he 
expected  to  move  on  the  following  day  against  Yorktown,  where, 
he  said,  a  great  force  of  Confederates — about  twenty-five  thousand 
men — was  entrenched,  and  asked  that  the  Parrot  guns  mounted  for 
the  defense  of  Washington  be  forwarded  for  his  use.  This  request 
was  a  grievous  blow  to  Stanton,  who  had  information  that  York- 
town  was  held  by  a  mere  handful  of  men  compared  to  the  number 
McClellan  had  reported.  It  indicated  that  McClellan  wanted  to  strip 
Washington  of"  its  means  of  defense  in  order  to  increase  his  already 
overwhelming  force  for  taking  a  place  that  a  few  hours  later  took 
itself,  the  Confederates,  happy  to  escape,  skedaddling  in  glee! 
The  records  disclose  that  there  were  between  five  thousand  and  six 
thousand  Confederates  at  Yorktown;  McClellan's  force  numbered 
over  one  hundred  thousand.     General  J.  B.  Magruder  said  after- 


evacuation  of  Yorktown  would  have  been  successful,  the  Confederates  then 
controlling  less  than  ten  thousand  men,  while  McClellan  was  in  command 
of  a  very  large  army.  General  Pope  testified  that  McClellan's  army  could 
have  taken  Richmond  and  marched  to  New  Orleans.  General  Butler  made 
a  similar  statement.  McClellan's  own  commanders  swore  that  he  might 
have  taken  Richmond  five  times  during  his  brief  peninsular  campaign. 
D.  H.  Hill,  the  Confederate  general,  says  that  "during  Lee's  absence  Rich- 
mond was  at  the  mercy  of  McClellan.  He  could  have  captured  the  city 
with  but  little  loss  of  life." 


APPROVES  McCLELLAN'S  PLANS  149 

wards  that  he  held  Yorktown  by  "keeping  up  a  hell  of  a  clatter." 

At  Stanton's  request  Lincoln  replied:  "Your  order  for  Parrot 
guns  from  Washington  alarms  us  chiefly  because  it  argues  indefimte 
procrastination.    Is  anything  to  be  done?" 

On  the  same  day  Generals  Hitchcock  and  Wadsworth  reported 
to  Stanton  that  McClellan  had  disobeyed  the  order  to  keep  Wash- 
ington protected.  Although  he  had  more  men  than  he  could  use, 
he  was  calling  for  more  and  on  the  6th  Stanton  telegraphed  that 
Sumner's  full  corps  was  on  the  way  to  join  him  and  that  Franklin's 
division  was  advancing  by  way  of  Manassas,  ending  thus:  "Tele- 
graph frequently,  and  all  the  power  of  the  Government  shall  be 
.  used  to  sustain  you  as  occasion  may  require."  On  the  9th,  Stanton 
having  learned  the  precise  strength  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,- 
Lincoln  wrote  to  McClellan  among  other  things :  "There  is  a 
curious  mystery  about  the  number  of  troops  now  with  you."  He 
quoted  McClellan's  reports  to  Stanton  and  asked  him  how  the  dis- 
crepancy of  twenty-three  thousand  men  therein  disclosed  could  be 
accounted  for.    Also : 

I  suppose  the  whole  force  which  has  gone  forward  for  you  has  reached 
you  by  this  time.  If  so,  I  think  it  is  the  precise  time  for  you  to  strike  a 
blow.  *  *  *  Once  more  let  me  tell  you,  it  is  indispensable  that 
you  should  strike  a  blow.  *  *  *  "phe  country  will  not  fail  to 
note,  is  now  noting-,  that  the  present  hesitation  is  but  the  story  of  Manassas 
repeated.  I  beg  to  assure  you  that  I  have  never  written  to  you  in  greater 
kindness  of  feeling  than  now,  or  with  a  fuller  purpose  to  sustain  you  as  far 
as,  in  my  most  anxious  judgment,  I  can.    But  you  must  act. 

Two  days  later,  although  the  Yorktown  enemy  had  vanished, 
I^IcClellan  asked  Stanton  for  more  men,  but  said  he  would  be  sat- 
isfied if  given  Franklin's  division.  Instantly  Stanton  sent  word 
that  Franklin's  division  had  been  "ordered  to  march  to  Alexandria 
and  embark  for  Fortress  Monroe,"  and  received  McClellan's  thanks 
and  his  assurance  that  victory  was  "sure  now." 

Among  his  reasons  for  not  obeying  the  orders  to  advance,  Mc- 
Clellan prints  in  his  "Own  Story"  a  letter  from  F.  P.  Blair,  of  April 
12,  advising  him  not  to  heed  the  cry  of  "on  to  Richmond,"  but  to 
take  his  own  time.  On  April  7,  1862,  his  close  personal  friend.  Gen- 
eral W.  B.  Franklin,  wrote  warning  McClellan  against  the  danger  of 
obeying  suggestions  from  anti-war  and  anti-administration  politi- 
cians instead  of  orders  from  Washington,  adding:  "Stanton  says  all 
the  opponents  of  the  administration  center  around  you."    McClellan 


150  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

proved  that  Stanton's  allegation  was  true  and  consequently,  of 
course,  that  he  himself  was  hostile  to  the  administration,  by  subse- 
quently publishing  in  his  "Own  Story"  portions  of  his  correspond- 
ence with  those  very  "opponents."  As  a  further  justification  for  his 
rebellious  course,  he  recites  immediately  after  Lincoln's  letter  of 
April  9,  the  insulting  telegram  sent  by  Pelissier  to  the  French 
Emperor  in  reply  to  an  order  to  renew  the  attack  in  the  Crimea:  "I 
will  not  renew  the  attack  until  ready ;  if  you  wish  it  done,  come  and 
do  it  yourself."  He  seemed  to  regard  his  mutiny  against  the  Presi- 
dent and  the  Secretary  of  War  as  a  glorious  and  heroic  achievement. 

On  April  11  he  wrote  to  his  wife  not  to  "worry  about"  the 
"wretches"  and  "hounds"  at  Washington ;  that  he  had  received  a 
letter  from  Francis  B.  Cutting  of  New  York,  advising  him  not  to 
permit  the  "treacherous  hounds"  at  Washington  to  "drive"  him 
"from  his  path"  and  had  answered  it,  and  that  he  would  be  glad 
when  he  had  finished  "this  confounded  affair,"  complaining  of  his 
"predicament,"  with  "rebels  on  one  side  and  abolitionists  and  other 
scoundrels  on  the  other." 

Stanton,  too,  wanted  "this  confounded  afifair"  finished,  for  he 
telegraphed  to  McClellan  on  the  16th :  "Let  us  have  Yorktown  with 
Magruder  and  his  gang  before  May  1  and  the  job  will  be  done." 
And  then  again  on  the  27th:  "I  am  rejoiced  to  learn  that  your 
operations  are  progressing  rapidly  and  with  so  much  spirit  and 
success,  and  congratulate  you  and  the  officers  and  soldiers  en- 
gaged upon  the  brilliant  afifair  mentioned  in  your  telegram.  Re- 
peating the  assurance  that  everything  in  the  power  of  this  De- 
partment is  at  your  service,  I  hope  soon  to  congratulate  you  upon 
a  splendid  victory  that  shall  be  the  finishing  stroke  of  the  war." 

Evidently  Stanton  knew  that  the  insurgents  were  "playing 
horse"  with  McClellan,  for  he  telegraphed  to  McDowell  on  the  28th 
that  "the  enemy  will  amuse  McClellan  at  Yorktown  and  make  a  sud- 
den dash  with  their  main  force  against  you  or  Banks." 

On  May  17  he  telegraphed  to  McClellan : 

In  order  to  increase  the  strength  of  the  attack  on  Richmond  at  the 
earliest  moment,  General  McDowell  has  been  ordered  to  march  upon  that 
city  by  the  shortest  route. 

The  specific  task  assigned  to  his  command  [40,000  men]  has  been  to 
provide  against  any  danger  to  the  capital  of  the  nation.  At  your  earnest 
request  he  is  sent  forward  to  cooperate  in  the  reduction  of  Richmond  but 
charged  in  attempting  to  do  this  not  to  uncover  the  city  of  Washington 


APPROVES  McCLELLAN'S  PLANS  151 

and  you  will  give  no  order  either  before  or  after  your  junction  which  can 
put   him   out   of    position    to   cover   this    city. 

Notwithstanding  McClellan's  incessant  appeal  for  more  troops, 
more  troops  was  not  what  he  wanted,  after  all.  He  wanted  au- 
thority, not  soldiers,  and  he  did  not  seem  to  care  how  the  battle 
went,  for  he  answered : 

The  Department  lines  should  not  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  me;  but 
General  McDowell,  and  all  other  troops  sent  me,  should  be  placed  com- 
pletely at  my  disposal.  *  *  *  If  /  cannot  fully  control  all  his 
troops,  /  want  none  of  them,  but  would  prefer  to  fight  the  battle  with  what  / 
have  and  let  others  be  responsible  for  results. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

CAPTURES  NORFOLK. 

Benjamin  F.  Butler  says  in  "General  Butler  in  New  Orleans," 
that  in  his  initial  interview  with  Stanton  in  January,  1862,  he  was 
asked  why  he  could  not  capture  New  Orleans.  It  was  the  first 
time  the  suggestion  had  been  made,  and,  he  said,  it  "thrilled"  him. 
Elaborating  later,  he  gives  this  interesting  information  concerning 
that  first  interview: 

Mr.  Stanton  had  some  decided  notions  about  the  conduct  of  the  war. 
He  mentioned,  I  should  say,  a  dozen  things  he  said  must  be  done — in 
fact,  that  he  intended  to  do.  I  distinctly  remember  five,  all  of  which 
appealed  to  my  judgment  of  approval:  (a)  Capture  New  Orleans;  (b) 
blockade  the  James  River  and  cork  up  the  Confederate  "Government";  (c) 
cut  off  the  stream  of  supplies  from  Baltimore  to  the  Confederacy  through 
the  Shenandoah  Valley;  (d)  confiscate  slaves  of  rebellious  masters;  (e) 
compel  McClellan  to  besiege  Richmond  until  it  surrendered. 

The  first  of  these  I  helped  to  accomplish  without  anything  further 
than  a  suggestion;  but  the  others  Mr.  Stanton  was  compelled  to  do  himself. 

In  February  Stanton  inquired  of  Secretary  Welles  whether 
the  navy  could  not  invest  Norfolk,  especially  as  the  navy-yard  there 
ought  to  be  rescued,  and  was  met  with  the  suggestion  that  General 
Eurnside  be  ordered  to  assault  the  city  by  land — in  other  words, 
"Do  it  yourself,  Mr.  Stanton." 

In   the   meantime,   the  Merrimac,   a   remarkable   craft,    nearly 
submerged,  heavily  armed  and  roofed  with  bars  of  railroad  iron, 
issued  forth  and  on  March  8  and  9  sunk  the  Federal  frigates  Con- ' 
gress  and  Cumberland,  frightened  the  navy,  and  threw  New  York, 
Washington,  and  the  seacoast  cities  into  hysterics. 

On  the  very  night  that  she  completed  this  destruction,  Stanton 
telegraphed  to  H.  B.  Renwick  at  New  York,  to  call  together  se- 
cretly Abram  S.  Hewitt,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  and  others  like 
them  to  sit  as  a  committee  to  devise  a  way  of  sinking  the  new 
insurgent  monster.  While  this  was  being  done  he  inquired  into  the 
condition  of  his  own  forts  and  forces   in  that  vicinity.     Finding 


CAPTURES  NORFOLK  153 

Fortress  Monroe  provisioned  for  only  sixty  days  and  with  but 
two  guns  that  could  injure  the  Merrimac — one  of  12-inch  and  the 
other  of  15-inch  bore  but  not  mounted — he  ordered  provisions  and 
munitions  for  six  months  to  be  thrown  in  at  once. 

"It  would  be  a  wonderful  reproach  to  your  Department,"  ex- 
claimed Stanton  to  the  chief  of  ordnance  (General  Ripley),  "if  this 
big  gun  should  not  be  mounted  when  needed.  The  civilized  world 
would  execrate  the  officer  who  did  not  have  this  gun  in  fighting 
order  ready  for  an  emergency.  I  would  not  answer  for  the  neck 
of  the  man  loaded  with  such  a  responsibility." 

On  March  13,  he  advised  Secretary  Welles  of  the  navy,  that  he 
could  not  embark  the  army  for  Norfolk  previous  to  such  a  blockade 
of  the  Craney  Island  channel  as  would  bottle  up  the  Merrimac.  The 
result  of  his  communication  was  stated  next  day  by  himself  to  his 
bureau  chiefs: 

I  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  informing  him  that 
our  hulk  and  coal  vessels  were  at  his  disposal  to  blockade  the  Elizabeth 
River  [in  vv^hich  the  Merrimac  w^as  anchored],  but  my  letter  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  received  in  good  temper.  I  have  a  reply  stating  that  when 
the  army  shall  clear  Sewall's  Point  of  the  enemy,  the  navy  will  be  happy,  to 
do  its  duty  in  sinking  vessels.  This  I  understand  means  that  the  navy 
intends  to  make  no  attempt  to  blockade  the  channel  while  the  batteries  are 
there.  ******  -piig  President  sent  for  me.  I 
found  Mr.  Fox  [assistant  secretary  of  the  navy]  present.  We  had  a  con- 
ference on  the  subject,  but  it  led  to  no  result.  The  President  relies  on 
Mr.  Fox,  vi-ho  seems  to  think  that  he  has  in  his  possession  the  entire  naval 
knowledge  of  the  world.  Under  these  circumstances  my  duty  seems  to 
be  to  give  this  serious  matter  active  attention  at  once. 

On  the  following  day  he  telegraphed  to  Cornelius  Vanderbilt 
to  name  a  price  for  bottling  up  the  Merrimac  or  sinking  her  if  she 
should  attempt  to  steam  out,  and  to  come  at  once  to  Washington. 
Vanderbilt  offered  the  swift  and  powerful  sidewheel  steamer  Van- 
derbilt to  Stanton,  fully  equipped,  without  price,  and  on  March  20 
received  the  following,  his  ofifer  having  been  accepted  : 

Confiding  in  your  patriotic  motives  and  purposes  as  well  as  your  skill, 
judgment,  and  energy,  full  discretion  and  authority  are  conferred  upon  you 
to  arm,  equip,  manage,  use,  navigate,  and  employ  the  steamer  Vanderbilt 
with  such  commander  and  crew  as  you  may  deem  fit.  Instructions  will  be 
given  to  the  quartermaster-general  to  furnish  you  with  supplies  and  to  treat 
and  recognize  the  Vanderbilt  as  in  the  Government  service  and  under  the 
special  orders  of  this  Department. 


154  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

When  the  craft  reached  Fortress  Monroe,  General  Wool  turned 
her  over  to  Commander  Goldsborough  of  the  navy,  whereupon 
Stanton  instructed  him  by  telegraph  to  repossess  her  and  use  her 
"exclusively  under  the  command  of  the  War  Department." 

Assistant-Secretary  Watson  arrived  at  Fortress  Monroe  a  few 
hours  later  and,  finding  Goldsborough  without  the  jealousy  that 
poisoned  Washington  and  eager  to  avail  himself  of  any  means 
within  reach  to  destroy  the  Merrimac,  he  returned  the  Vandcrhilt  to 
him,  with  Stanton's  approval. 

Feeling  certain  that  the  Vandcrhilt,  although  she  herself  might 
be  destroyed  by  the  impact,  was  able  to  run  down  and  sink  the 
Merrimac,  and  Fortress  Monroe  having  been  reinforced,  Stanton  in- 
stucted  Wool  to  have  his  army  ready  for  a  sudden  movement.  He 
then  invited  Secretary  Chase  and  the  President  to  accompany  him — 
the  former  because  he  wanted  to  use  the  revenue  cutter  Miami  for 
the  trip  down  the  Potomac  and  the  Chesapeake,  and  the  latter  be- 
cause (not  having  invited  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy)  he  wanted 
present,  on  arriving  at  the  field  of  operations,  full  authority  to  take 
personal  command  of  both  army  and  navy,  which  the  President  as 
commander-in-chief  of  both,  could  and  did  give  to  him. 

The  party,  accompanied  by  General  Egbert  L.  Viele,  left  Wash- 
ington at  dusk  on  May  5,  1862.  Unfavorable  weather  compelled 
the  pilot  to  tie  up  during  a  portion  of  the  night,  so  Fortress  Monroe 
was  not  reached  until  the  following  evening.  Stanton  sent  at  once 
for  General  Wool  and,  after  a  brief  conference,  although  it  was  10 
o'clock  and  the  squadron  flagship  was  some  miles  away,  set  out  to 
consult  Commander  Goldsborough. 

The  following  morning  the  party,  accompanied  by  Wool  and 
Goldsborough,  visited  the  several  ships  in  the  Roads  for  the  pur- 
pose of  learning  their  condition  for  battle,  and  at  noon — having 
found  them  "as  fierce  as  one-eyed  terriers  for  a  fight" — Stanton 
decided  to  have  the  engagement  open  on  the  part  of  the  navy  at 
daybreak  the  next  morning. 

Lincoln  more  than  willingly  approved,  and  promptly  as  agreed 
three  armed  vessels,  led  by  the  Galena  under  John  Rodgers,  steamed 
up  the  James  River  Thursday  morning  and  engaged  the  shore  bat- 
teries, while  the  Monitor  and  Stevens  cannonaded  the  works  on 
Sewall's  Point.  At  8  A.  M.  Stanton  telegraphed  with  delight  to 
Assistant-Secretary  W^atson :  "Tobacco,  oil,  and  cotton  are  being 


Gov.  John  A.  Andrew. 
(Massachusetts.) 


Bo.STON    CORHETT. 


CAPTURES  NORFOLK  155 

carted  out  of  Norfolk.    Things  are  moving  now."    Again  at  2  o'clock 
he  telegraphed  as  follows : 

The  President  is  at  this  moment  at  Fort  Wool  witnessing  the  gunboats 
shelling  the  rebel  batteries  on  Sewall's  Point.  At  the  same  time  heavy 
firing  up  the  James  River  indicates  that  Rodgers  and  Morris  are  fighting 
the  Jamestown  and  Yorktown.  The  boom  of  heavy  cannonading  strikes  the 
ear  every  minute.  The  Sawyer  gun  in  Fort  Wool  has  silenced  one  battery 
on  Sewall's  Point.    The  James  rifle  does  good  work. 

It  was  a  beautiful  sight  to  see  the  boats  moving  on  Sewall's  Point  and 
one  after  another  open  fire  and  blaze  away  every  minute.* 

The  troops  will  be  ready  to  move  in  an  hour.  The  ships  engaged  are 
the  Dacotah,  Savannah,  San  Jacinto,  Monitor,  and  Stevens.  The  Merrimac  is 
expected  out  every  minute.  A  rebel  tug  came  over  this  morning  and  said 
the  Merrimac  was  at  Norfolk  when  they  left. 

Soon  after,  the  terror-inciting  Merrimac  came  out,  but  seeing 
the  Vandcrhilt  draw  away  for  the  purpose  of  getting  up  great  speed 
to  run  her  down,  skulked  under  shelter,  and  was  blown  up  by  her 
commander  at  daylight  on  the  following  morning,  producing  what 
Stanton  described  as  "one  of  the  most  beautiful  sights  ever  beheld." 

A  suitable  landing  having  been  found,  Stanton  gave  orders  for 
the  troops  to  forward  march  and  at  midnight  was  able  to  tele- 
graph to  Watson : 

Norfolk  and  Portsmouth  are  ours;  also  the  navy-yard.  General  Wool 
having  completed  the  landing  of  his  forces  at  9  this  morning  on  Wil- 
loughby's  Point,  marched  with  5,000  men.  Secretary  Chase  accompanied. 
At  5  this  evening  our  forces  within  a  short  distance  of  Norfolk  were  met 
by  a  delegation  of  citizens  and  the  city  was  formally  surrendered.  Our 
troops  then  marched  in;  we  have  possession;  General  Vielef  is  in  command 
as  military  governor. 

After  Stanton  had  administered  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  hun- 
dreds of  Virginians,  the  party  returned  to  Washington  Monday 
morning.     Thus,  in  one  hundred  and  twenty  hours  from  the  time 


*"As  soon  as  Stanton  heard  firing  in  every  direction  where  there  were 
rebel  forts  or  forces,  his  delight  knew  no  bounds,"  says  General  Viele. 


f'Before  leaving  for  Norfolk,  Secretary  Stanton  said  to  me:  T  am 
going  down  to  take  Norfolk.  I  want  you  to  go  along  prepared  to  act  as 
military  governor  after  the  capture.'  I  went;  he  took  Norfolk  and  every- 
thing else  in  that  vicinity,  and  I  was  made  military  governor  that  very 
night.  That  shows  what  kind  of  a  man  Mr.  Stanton  was,"  says  General 
Vielc. 


156  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

fixed  for  leaving  Washington  (twenty-six  of  which  were  required 
for  the  journey  to  Fortress  Monroe)  Norfolk,  Portsmouth,  Newport 
News,  and  the  surrounding  points  were  captured,  never  to  be  recov- 
ered by  the  insurgents ;  the  Mcrrimac  was  driven  to  suicide ;  the 
United  States  navy-yard  was  recovered,  and  the  James  River  com- 
pletely blockaded,  all  according  to  Stanton's  plans  and  under  his 
personal  direction. 

When  Commander  Goldsborough  made  his  report  to  the  Navy 
Department  he  stated  that  he  had  acted  on  "orders  from  the 
Honorable  Edwin  M.  Stanton,"  and  accompanied  the  document 
by  Lincoln's  written  statement  that  he  had  "verbally  approved  the 
movement  in  advance." 

\\'hen  Secretary  Welles  wished  to  occupy  the  Norfolk  navy- 
yard,  his  own  property,  he  was  compelled  to  apply  to  Stanton  for 
permissionn  to  do  so.    Secretary  Chase  wrote  to  Horace  Greeley : 

I  cut  this  slip  from  the  Republican  this  morning  about  Mr.  Stanton.  It 
is  less  than  justice  to  him.  Not  only  did  he  urge  the  order  to  move  on 
the  22d  of  February,-  but  he  proposed  to  the  President  and  myself  the 
trip  to  Fortress  Monroe;  he  proposed  and  urged  the  sending  of  Rodgers  up 
the  river,  the  landing  of  the  troops  by  General  Wool,  and  the  march  upon 
Norfolk.  The  next  day  witnessed  the  march,  a  panic,  the  capture  of  Nor- 
folk, and  the  following  morning  the  blowing  up  of  the  Mcrrimac.  Nothing 
of  all  this,  I  verily  believe,  would  have  occurred  but  for  Mr.  Stanton's  great 
energy  of  thought  and  action.* 

In  execution  and  results,  Stanton's  Norfolk  expedition  was 
undeniably  one  of  the  signal  triumphs  of  the  war.  It  is  the  only 
instance  in  American  history  where  the  secretary  of  war  assumed 
personal  command  of  both  army  and  navy  and  actively  directed 
the  combined  operations  of  both  in  battle. 

"If  Mr.  Stanton  had  been  a  military  man,"  says  General  T.  M. 
Vincent,  "the  brilliant  and  decisive  character  of  his  Norfolk  expedi- 
tion would  have  filled  the  world  with  his  fame." 


*For  years  his  partisans  have  claimed  that  the  operations  of  Mc- 
Clellan  caused  the  surrender  of  Norfolk.  McClellan  himself  did  not  think 
so,  for  he  sent  an  early  telegram  of  congratulation  to  Stanton — the  only 
one  of  this  character  he  ever  was  known  to  send  to  the  Secretary. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
THE  LOFTY  DYER  LETTER. 

Stanton  hoped  that  going  in  person  to  capture  Norfolk  and 
Lincoln's  ceaseless  prodding  would  compel  McClellan  to  move, 
but  he  was  mistaken.  The  press  continued  to  ridicule  the  situation 
by  the  daily  use  of  the  words  in  exaggerated  head-lines,  "All  Quiet 
on  the  Potomac."  McClellan's  partisans  the  while  poured  broad- 
sides of  abuse  upon  Stanton,  declaring  that  he  was  responsible  for 
the  repeated  failures  of  the  campaign  in  Virginia. 

These  attacks  on  Stanton  were  so  persistent  and  vicious  that 
his  old  friend  and  beloved  tutor  in  Kenyon  College,  the  Reverend 
Heman  Dyer  of  New  York,  wrote  a  letter  in  reference  to  them, 
which  drew  forth  this  remarkable  communication : 

Washington,   D.   C,   May  18,   1862. 
My  Dear  Friend: 

Yours  of  the  10th  is  welcome  as  an  evidence  of  the  continued  regard 
of  one  whose  esteem  I  have  always  been  anxious  to  possess. 

I  have  been  very  well  aware  of  the  calumnies  busily  circulated  against 
me  in  New  York  and  elsewhere  respecting  my  relations  to  General  Mc- 
Clellan, but  am  compelled  from  public  considerations  to  withhold  the 
proofs  that  would  stamp  the  falsity  of  the  accusations  and  the  base  mo- 
tives of  the  accusers,  who  belong  to  two  classes: 

First — Plunderers  who  have  been  driven  from  the  Department  when 
they  were  gorging  millions; 

Second — Scheming  politicians,  whose  designs  are  endangered  by  an 
earnest,  resolute,  and  uncompromising  prosecution  of  this  war  as  a  war 
against  rebels  and  traitors. 

A  brief  statement  of  facts  of  official  record,  which  I  can  make  to  you 
confidentially,  will  suffice  to  satisfy  yourself  that  your  confidence  in  me  has 
not    been    misplaced. 

When  I  entered  the  cabinet  I  was  and  had  been  for  months  the 
sincere  and  devoted  friend  of  General  McClellan,  and  to  support  him  and, 
so  far  as  I  might,  aid  and  assist  him  in  bringng  the  war  to  a  close,  was 
a  chief  inducement  for  me  to  sacrifice  my  personal  happiness  to  a  sense 
of  public  duty.  I  had  studied  him  earnestly  with  an  anxious  desire  to  dis- 
cover the  military  and  patriotic  virtue  that  might  save  the   country,   and, 


158  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

if  in  any  degree   disappointed,   I    had   hoped   on,   and    waited    for    time    to 
develop. 

I  went  into  the  cabinet  about  the  20th  of  January.  On  the  27th  the 
President  made  his  Order  No.  1,  requiring  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to 
move.  It  is  not  necessary,  nor  perhaps  proper,  to  state  all  the  causes 
which  led  to  that  order,  but  it  is  enough  to  know  that  the  Government  was 
on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy,  and  at  the  rate  of  expenditure  the  armies 
must  move  or  the  Government  perish.  The  22d  of  February  was  the  day 
fixed  for  movement,  and  when  it  arrived  there  was  no  more  sign  of  move- 
ment on  the  Potomac  than  there  had  been  for  three  months  before.  Many, 
very  many  earnest  conversations  I  had  held  with  General  McClellan,  to 
impress  him  with  the  absolute  necessity  of  active  operations  or  that  the 
Government  would  fail  because  of  foreign  intervention  and  enormous 
debt. 

Between  the  22d  of  February  and  the  8th  of  March  the  President 
had  again  interfered,  and  the  movement  on  Winchester  and  to  clear  the 
blockade  of  the  Potomac  was  promised,  commenced,  and  abandoned.  The 
circumstances  cannot  yet  be  revealed. 

On  the  8th  of  March  the  President  again  interfered,  ordered  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  to  be  organized  into  army  corps,  and  that  operations 
should  commence. 

Two  lines  of  operations  were  opened — one  moving  directly  on  the 
enemy  at  Manassas  and  forcing  him  back  to  Richmond,  beating  and 
destroying  him  by  superior  force,  and  all  the  time  keeping  the  capital 
secure  by  lying  between  it  and  the  enemy.  This  was  the  plan  favored  by 
the  President.  The  other  plan  was  to  transfer  the  troops  by  water  to  some 
point  on  the  lower  Chesapeake,  and  thence  advance  to  Richmond.  This 
was  General  McClellan's  plan.*  The  President  yielded  his  own  views, 
although  they  were  supported  by  some  of  the  best  military  men  in  the 
country,  and  consented  that  the  General  should  pursue  his  own  plans. 
But  by  a  written  order  he  imposed  a  special  condition  that  the  army 
should  not  be  removed  without  leaving  a  sufficient  force  in  and  around 
Washington  to  make  the  capital  perfectly  secure  against  all  danger,  and 
the  force  required  should  be  determined  by  the  judgment  of  all  the  com- 
manders  of  the   army  corps. 

In  order  to  enable  General  McClellan  to  devote  his  whole  energy  to 
the  movement  of  his  own  army  (which  was  quite  enough  to  tax  the  ability 
of  the  ablest  commander  in  the  world)  he  was  relieved  from  the  charge 
of  the  other  military  Departments,  it  being  supposed  that  the  respective 
commanders  were  competent  to  direct  the  operations  in  their  own  Depart- 
ments. 

To  enable  McClellan  to  transport  his  force,  every  means  and  power  of 
the  Government  were  placed  at  his  disposal  and  unsparingly  used.  When 
a  large  part  of  his  force  had  been  transferred  to  Fortress  Monroe,  and  the 
whole  of  it  about  to  go  in  a  few  days,  information  was  given  to  me  by 
various  persons  that  there  was  great  reason  to  fear  that  no  adequate  force 


*Which  left  Washington  open  to  capture;  and  Lee  could  well  afford 
to  pawn  Richmond  for  Washington. 


Gen.  Francis  P.  Blair. 


Gen.  D.  C.  McCallum. 


THE  LOFTY  DYER  LETTER  150 

had  been  left  to  defend  the  capital  in  case  of  sudden  attack;  that  the  enemy 
might  detach  a  large  force  and  seize  it  at  a  time  when  it  would  not  be 
possible  for  General  McClellan  to  render  any  assistance.  Serious  alarm 
was  expressed  by  many  persons  and  many  warnings  given  me  which  I 
could  not  neglect.  I  ordered  a  report  of  the  force  left  to  defend  Wash- 
ington. It  vas  reported  by  the  commander  to  be  less  than  20,000  raw 
recruits,  with  not  a  single  organized  brigade.  A  dash  like  that  made 
a  short  time  before  at  Winchester  would  at  any  time  take  the  capital 
of  the  nation.  The  report  of  the  force  left  to  defend  Washington  and 
the  order  of  the  President  were  referred  to  Major-General  Hitchcock  and 
Adjutant-General  Thomas,  to  report — 

First — Whether  the  President's  orders  had  been  complied  with; 

Second — Whether  the  force  left  to  defend  the  city  of  Washington  was 
sufficient. 

They  reported  in  the  negative  on  both  points.  These  reports  were 
submitted  to  the  President,  who  also  consulted  General  Totten,  General 
Taylor,  General  Meigs,  and  General  Ripley.  They  agreed  in  the  opinion 
that  the  capital  was  not  safe.  The  President  then  by  written  order 
directed  me  to  retain  one  of  the  army  corps  for  the  defense  of  Washington 
—  either  Sumner's  or  McDowell's.  As  a  part  of  Sumner's  corps  had  already 
embarked,  I  directed  McDowell  to  remain  with  his  command.  And  the 
order  was  approved  by  the  President. 

Down  to  this  period  there  has  never  been  a  shadow  of  difference  be- 
tween General  McClellan  and  myself.  It  is  true  that  I  thought  his  plan 
of  operations  objectionable,  as  the  most  expensive,  the  most  hazardous,  and 
most  protracted  that  could  have  been  chosen;  but  I  was  not  a  military 
man,  and  while  he  was  in  command  I  would  not  interfere  with  his  plan, 
and  gave  him  every  aid  to  execute  it.  But  when  the  case  had  assumed  the 
form  it  had  done  by  his  disregard  of  the  President's  orders  and  by 
leaving  the  capital  exposed  to  seizure  by  the  enemy,  I  was  bound  to  act, 
even  if  I  had  not  been  so  required  by  the  specific  written  order  of  the 
President. 

Will  any  man  question  that  such  was  my  duty? 

When  this  order  was  communicated  to  General  McClellan,  it  of  course 
provoked  his  wrath,  and  the  wrath  of  his  friends  was  directed  upon  me 
because  I  was  the  agent  of  its  execution. 

If  the  force  had  gone  forward  as  he  had  designed,  I  believe  that 
Washington  would  this  day  be  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels! 

Down  to  this  point,  moreover,  there  had  never  been  the  slightest 
difference  between  the  President  and  myself.  But  the  entreaties  of  General 
McClellan  induced  the  President  to  modify  his  orders  to  the  extent  that 
Franklin's  division  (being  part  of  McDowell's  corps,  that  had  been  retained) 
was  detached  and  sent  forward  by  boat  to  McClellan.  This  was  against 
my  judgment,  because  I  thought  the  whole  force  of  McDowell  should  be 
kept  together  and  sent  forward  by  land  on  the  shortest  route  to  Richmond, 
thus  aiding  McClellan,  and  at  the  same  time  covering  and  protecting  Wash- 
ington by  keeping  between  it  and  the  enemy.  In  this  opinion  Major-Gen- 
eral  Hitchcock,  General  Meigs,  and  Adjutant-General  Thomas  agreed;  but 


160  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

the  President  was  so  anxious  that  General  McClellan  should  have  no 
cause  of  complaint,  that  he  ordered  the  force  to  be  sent  by  water,  although 
tliat  route  was  then  threatened  by  the  Merrimac.  I  yielded  my  opinion  to 
the  President's  orders;  but  between  him  and  me  there  has  never  been  the 
slightest  shadow  since  I  entered  the  cabinet,  and  except  the  retention  of  the 
force  under  McDowell  by  the  President's  orders  for  the  reason  men- 
tioned, General  McClellan  has  never  made  a  request  nor  expressed  a  wish 
that  has  not  been  promptly  complied  with,  if  in  the  power  of  the  Govern- 
ment. To  me  personally  he  has  repeatedly  expressed  his  confidence  and  his 
thanks  in  the  despatches  sent  me. 

Now,  one  word  as  to  the  political  motives:  What  motive  can  I  have 
to  thwart  General  McClellan?  I  am  not  now,  never  have  been,  and  never 
will  be  a  candidate  for  any  office.  I  hold  my  present  post  at  the  request 
of  the  President,  who  knew  me  personally,  but  to  whom  I  had  not  spoken 
from  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  until  the  day  he  handed  me  my  commission. 

I  knew  that  everything  I  cherish  and  hold  dear  would  be  sacrificed  by 
accepting  office.  But  I  thought  I  might  help  to  save  the  country,  and  for 
that  I  was  willing  to  perish.  If  I  wanted  to  be  a  politician  or  a  candidate 
for  any  office,  would  I  stand  between  the  Treasury  and  the  robbers  who 
are  howling  around  me?  Would  I  provoke  and  stand  up  against  the  whole 
newspaper  gang  in  the  country,  of  every  part,  who,  to  sell  news,  would 
imperil  a  battle?  I  was  never  taken  for  a  fool,  but  there  could  be  no 
greater  madness  than  for  a  man  to  encounter  what  I  do  for  anything  less 
than  motives  that  overleap  time  and  look  forward  to  eternity. 

I  believe  that  God  Almighty  founded  this  Government,  and  for  my  act  in 
the  effort  to  maintain  it  I  expect  to  stand  before  Him  in  judgment. 

You  will  pardon  this  long  explanation  which  has  been  made  to  no  one 
else.  It  is  due  to  you,  who  was  my  friend  when  I  was  a  poor  boy  at  school, 
and  had  no  claim  upon  your  confidence  and  kindness.  It  cannot  be  made 
public  for  obvious  reasons.  General  McClellan  is  at  the  head  of  our  chief 
army.  He  must  have  every  confidence  and  support,  and  I  am  willing  that 
the  whole  world  should  revile  me  rather  than  to  diminish  one  grain  of  the 
strength  needed  to  conquer  the  rebels.  In  a  struggle  like  this,  justice  or 
credit  to  individuals   is  but  dust  in   the   balance. 

Desiring  no  office  of  honor,  and  anxious  only  for  the  support  and  quiet 
of  my  home,  I  suffer  no  inconvenience  beyond  that  which  arises  from  the 
trouble  and  anxiety  suffered  by  worthy  friends  like  yourself,  who  are 
naturally  disturbed  by  the  clamors  and  calumnies  of  those  whose  interests 
or  feelings  are  hostile  to  me. 

The  official  records  will  at  the  proper  time  fully  prove: 

First — That  I  have  employed  the  whole  power  of  the  Government  un- 
sparingly to  support  General   McClellan's  operations; 

Second  —That  I  have  not  interfered  with  nor  thwarted  them  in  any  par- 
ticular; 

Third  —That  the  force  retained  from  this  expedition  was  not  needed 
and  could  not  have  been  employed  by  him;  that  it  was  retained  by  express 
orders  of  the  President  upon  military  investigation  and  upon  the  best  mili- 
tary advice  in  the  country;  that  its  retention  was  required  to  save  the  capi- 


THE  LOFTY  DYER  LETTER  161 

tal  from  the  danger  to  which  it  was  exposed  by  disregard  of  the  President's 
positive  order  of  the  6th  of  March; 

Fourth  — That  between  the  President  and  myself  there  never  has  been 
the  slightest  shadow  of  difference  upon  any  point,  save  the  detachment  of 
Franklin's  force,  and  that  was  a  point  of  no  significance,  but  in  which  I 
was  sustained  by  Generals  Hitchcock,  Meigs,  Thomas,  and  Ripley,  while 
the  President  yielded  only  to  an  anxious  desire  to  avoid  complaint,  declar- 
ing at  the  same  time  his  belief  that  the  force  was  not  needed  by  General 
McClellan. 

You  will,  of  course,  regard  this  explanation  as  being  in  the  strictest 
confidence,  designed  only  for  your  information  upon  matters  where  you 
have  expressed  concern  for  me. 

The  confidence  of  yourself  and  men  like  you  is  full  equivalent  for 
all  the  railing  that  has  been  or  can  be  expended  against  me;  and  in  the 
magnitude  of  the  cause  all  merely  individual  questions  are  swallowed  up. 

I  shall  always  rejoice  to  hear  from  you,  and  am  as  ever, 

Truly  yours, 
The  Reverend  H.  Dyer.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

This  splendid  letter  was  penned  at  midnight.  At  the  same 
moment — at  midnight  of  May  18 — in  his  tent  in  Virginia,  Mc- 
Clellan was  also  writing — writing  to  his  wife  about  Stanton  and 
Lincoln,  saying:  "Those  hounds  at  Washington  are  after  me 
again !" 

So  they  were!  The  "hounds  at  Washington"  were  trying  to 
force  him  to  get  up  and  fight  in  defense  of  his  country,  and  he 
wouldn't  do  it! 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

CREATES  AND  FIGHTS  A  NAVY. 

Stanton's  long  and  important  professional  connection  with 
transportation  enabled  him  to  judge  understandingly  the  importance 
of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  as  commercial  and  military 
highways.  Finding  them  practically  in  the  hands  of  the  insurgents 
when  he  became  secretary,  and  being  unable  to  secure  from  the 
Navy  Department  any  satisfactory  plan  of  opening  them,  he  sent 
a  note  to  Charles  Ellet,  in  March,  1862,  saying: 

If  this  Department  had  several  swift,  strong  boats  on  the  Western 
rivers,  commanded  by  energetic  fighting  men,  I  could  clear  the  rebels 
out  of  those  waters  and  recover  the  Mississippi  to  the  use  of  commerce 
and  our  armies.  The  navy  seems  to  be  helpless  and  I  am  compelled  to 
execute  a  plan  of  my  own  to  avert  the  increasing  dangers  there.  Can 
you  not  secretly  fit  out  a  fleet  of  swift  boats  at  several  points  on  the 
Ohio  and  descend  on  the  rebels  unexpectedly  and  destroy  them?  Please 
call  at  my  office  at  once. 

Charles  Ellet,  personally  well  known  to  Stanton,  was  an  en- 
gineer of  great  renown  and  ability  who  had  built  the  Fairmont, 
Niagara,  and  Wheeling  bridges  and  invented  steam  rams  for  naval 
warfare.  He  called  and  discussed  the  matter  with  Stanton  and  his 
bureau  chiefs,  who  instantly  adopted  Ellet's  plan  to  buy  or  impress 
river  craft  of  high  speed  at  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  New  Albany,  etc., 
and  transform  them  into  rams  to  be  used  in  surprising  and  sinking 
the  insurgent  fleet  during  high  water. 

On  March  26,  Stanton  telegraphed  to  the  boards  of  trade  of 
Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  and  New  Albany  to  appoint  each  a  committee 
of  three  men  expert  in  boat  building  and  steamboating  to  serve 
for  thirty  days  in  providing  an  adequate  defense  against  insurgent 
gunboats,  of  which  a  fleet  of  ten  or  more  had  already  assembled 
at  Island  No.  10,  in  the  Mississippi. 

"My  object,"  concluded  the  telegram,  "is  to  bring  the  energetic, 
patriotic  spirit  and  enlightened  practical  judgment  of  your  city  to 


CREATES  AND  FIGHTS  A  NAVY  163 

aid  the  Government  in  a  matter  of  great  moment  when  hours  must 
count  and  dollars  must  not  be  squandered." 

Ellet  proceeded  with  haste  to  the  river  cities,  in  each  of  which 
Stanton  appointed  a  quartermaster  of  known  character  and  ability 
with  full  authority  to  purchase  and  pay  for  whatever  was  wanted. 
At  Cincinnati  the  patriots  set  exorbitant  values  upon  their  boats, 
whereupon  Stanton  telegraphed  to  Mayor  Butler: 

The  Department  will  submit  to  no  speculative  prices.  Enough  good 
boats  can  be  had  at  Pittsburg  for  a  fair  price.  If  not,  I  will  authorize  the 
quartermaster  to  seize  such  boats  as  may  be  needed,  leaving  the  parties 
to  seek  remuneration  from  Congress.  For  those  purchased  the  price 
will  be  paid  immediately,  but  I  want  no  contracts  concluded  without 
being  approved  by  this  Department.  *  *  *  Hours  count  and 
every  hour  should  bring  the  Rebellion  nearer  its  end. 

He  instructed  Mayor  Burnett  of  New  Albany  not  to  wait  for  the 
arrival  of  Ellet,  saying:  "I  want  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  and  New 
Albany  skill,  economy,  enterprise,  and  patriotism  to  compete  against 
each  other.  Shall  give  each  an  equal  fair  test  and  choose  between 
them  for  future  work.    Time  is  a  great  element  in  choice." 

In  this  way  he  aroused  local  pride  and  patriotism  and,  in  an 
incredibly  short  time,  created  a  fleet  of  gunboats  under  Ellet's 
supervision  with  solid  prows  of  wood  and  iron,  capable  of  steaming 
twenty  miles  per  hour  with  the  current,  thirty-eight  of  them  carry- 
ing 13-inch  coast  mortars  with  necessary  hospital  boats,  tenders, 
store  ships,  etc.  When  it  was  ready,  he  placed  Ellet  (assisted  by 
his  brother  Alfred)  in  command,  instructing  him  that  "the  expedi- 
tion must  move  upon  the  enemy  with  the  concurrence  of  the  naval 
commander  on  the  Mississippi,  for  there  must  be  no  conflicting 
authorities  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war." 

Reaching  Memphis,  Ellet  applied  to  Commander  Davis  of  the 
naval  fleet  (which  had  aleady  lost  two  gunboats  by  the  Confederate 
rams)  for  advice  and  cooperation.  After  an  exasperating  wait  of 
several  days,  both  cooperation  and  advice  were  refused.  Davis 
acted,  it  was  said,  upon  instructions  from  superiors  at  Washington.* 
The  situation  is  disclosed  by  the  following  official  telegram  from 
Stanton  to  General  Halleck,  at  Corinth,  on  June  5: 


*Ellet  had  his  ram  project  declined  by  the  czar  of  Russia  and  rejected 
repeatedly  by  Secretary  Welles  of  the  navy,  as  not  original  nor  effective. 
Hence  Stanton  had  espoused  an  enterprise  which  the  navy  had  pronounced 
impractical  and  worthless,  and  was  in  disrepute  with  that  Department. 


164  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Colonel  Ellet,  commander  of  the  ram  fleet  at  Fort  Pillow,  informs  me 
that  he  has  been  there  a  considerable  time  and  has  made  repeated  applica- 
tions to  Captain  Davis,  commander  of  the  gunboats,  for  leave  to  attack 
the  enemy's  fleet,  but  has  been  uniformly  refused.  Captain  Davis  not 
only  refuses  to  join  Mr.  Ellet  or  give  him  the  protection  of  a  single  gunboat, 
but  also  refuses  to  allow  him  to  attack  on  his  own  hook  or  allow  any  force 
to  volunteer  with  him. 

I  regret  the  President  will  not  place  the  fleet  under  your  command. 
Ellet  reports  that  the  strength  of  the  rebel  batteries  is  greatly  over- 
rated and  declares  his  intention  to  go  on  without  the  aid  or  approval  of  the 
gunboats. 

Next  day,  with  Stanton's  consent,  Ellet  made  the  attack  and 
destroyed,  captured,  or  drove  away  the  entire  insurgent  fleet.  He 
was  fatally  wounded  but  continued  to  fight  his  ram,  shouting  to  his 
brother:  "Stick  to  your  post,  Alfred,  and  sink  them  all!"  The 
next  day  Stanton  telegraphed  to  him : 

News  of  your  glorious  achievement  reached  us  last  night.  Our  joy 
is  dampened  only  by  your  injury.  I  have  seen  Mrs.  Ellet.  She  bears  up 
bravely.  I  have  provided  passes  and  transportation  and  she  will  go  to  you 
at  once  with  your  daughter.* 

The  record  is  one  not  excelled  in  military  history.  On  March 
28,  Stanton  had  formulated  his  plan  for  a  river  navy  and  despatched 


*Says  Mary  Virginia  Ellet  Cabell  of  Norwood,  Virginia,  daughter  of 
Colonel  Ellet:  "The  great  War  Secretary  came  in  person  to  our  home  on 
Georgetown  Heights,  D.  C,  to  announce  to  my  mother  my  father's 
glorious  achievement.  I  have  heard  that  this  powerful  War  Minister  was 
harsh  and  unfeeling;  but  I  can  never  forget  the  tenderness  of  his  manner 
on  that  occasion.  He  came  flushed  with  pleasure  to  bring  to  a  hero's 
family  the  first  news  of  his  success.  The  agony  of  alarm  with  which 
his  announcement  was  received  brought  tears  to  his  eyes.  When  my 
mother  sank  under  the  terror  of  the  first  forebodings  that  my  father's  injury 
was  not  so  light  as  represented,  he  beckoned  me  from  the  room  and,  taking 
both  my  hands  in  his,  said  soothingly,  'My  dear  young  lady,  do  not  be 
alarmed.  Your  father's  wound  is  slight — his  achievement  famous,  unequaled. 
Cheer  your  mother.  I  will  send  all  telegrams  as  they  arrive,  to  her,'  and 
he  kept  his  word.  His  carriage  dashed  back  that  same  evening,  and  next 
morning  we  were  provided  with  everything  required  to  take  my  mother 
and  myself  to  my  father,  on  his  flagship  before  Memphis.  Thanks  to  Mr. 
Stanton's  kindness  and  promptness,  we  reached  my  father  before  he  sank 
and  while  he  was  conscious  that  the  blow  he  had  struck  to  the  enemies  of  his 
country  must  cost  him  his  life.  *  *  *  "pj^g  rebel  flag,  taken 
by  my  brother  Charles  from  the  Memphis  post-oflice  during  the  close 
of  the  battle,  is  still  in  my  possession." 


Gen.  JuBAi,  A.  Kari  \-,  C.  S.  A. 


Gen.  T.  J.  I •■  Si i >.\e\vall ") 
Jackson,  C.  S.  A. 


Gen.  Joseph  W.  Chalmers,  C.  S.  A. 


W.  W.  BoYCE,  M.  C. 


CREATES  AND  FIGHTS  A  NAVY  165 

Ellet  to  Pittsburg  to  create  it.  Thirty-five  days  later  the  necessary 
craft  had  been  secured  and  rebuilt  by  Ellet  into  rams  and  gunboats  ; 
eight  days  later  they  were  manned  by  the  nerviest  men  in  the  West, 
specially  enlisted  for  "extra  hazardous"  service ;  fourteen  days  later 
they  were  anchored  one  thousand  miles  from  where  they  were  built 
to  ask  help  from  the  navy  to  attack  the  enemy ;  six  days  later,  at 
dusk,  without  that  help,  they  had  destroyed,  captured,  or  driven 
away  every  insurgent  craft ! 

Before  the  battle  closed  Colonel  Ellet's  nineteen-year-old  son 
(Charles  R.)  with  a  small  squad  from  the  fleet,  entered  Memphis 
and  replaced  the  Confederate  flag  on  the  Federal  post-office  with  the 
Stars  and  Stripes. 

And  thus  was  Memphis  secured,  the  Mississippi  cleared  to 
Vicksburg,  the  insurgent  cause  greatly  crippled,  and  Stanton  set  to 
dancing  with  glee  in  his  dingy  office  at  Washington ! 

Owing  to  the  displeasure  of  Secretary  Welles*  and  the  death  of 
Ellet,  who  was  a  man  of  fiery  courage  and  extraordinary  energy  and 
ability,  Stanton's  river  navy  was  transferred  by  the  act  of  July,  1862, 
to  the  Navy  Department.  Its  previous  feat  under  Stanton  was  de- 
scribed by  General  Sherman  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the 
war.  After  the  transfer  Stanton  at  once  chartered  and  armed  "pa- 
trol boats"  for  the  Western  rivers — especially  the  Ohio — which  per- 
formed effective  service ;  and  no  one  succeeded  in  having  them 
transferred  from  his  control,  although  there  were  several  sharp  at- 
tempts in  that  direction. 


♦Secretary  Welles,  in  his  various  postbellum  writings,  omitted  no  oppor- 
tunity to  criticize  Stanton.  As,  without  consulting  him,  Stanton  took  per- 
sonal command  of  a  portion  of  Mr.  Welles's  navy  for  the  purpose  of  cap- 
turing Norfolk  and  blockading  the  James  River,  and  created  a  new  War 
Department  navy  of  his  own,  which,  without  the  aid  of  the  regular  navy 
officers  present,  almost  instantly  cleared  the  upper  Mississippi  of  insurgent 
gunboats,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  naturally  felt  very  sorely  aggrieved. 
He  interpreted  both  proceedings  as  severe  reflections  upon  himself 
and  his  Department.  Besides,  Stanton  paid  no  attention  to  Mr.  Welles  in 
cabinet  meetings  or  elsewhere.  He  never  visited  the  Navy  Office  and  Mr. 
Welles  never  called  at  the  War  Office.  Hence,  if,  after  Stanton's  death,  Mr. 
Welles  thought  he  could  "get  even"  by  attacking  the  Secretary  of  War  in 
history,  it  was  human  nature  for  him  to  do  so,  and  he  did  it. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

A  MUTILATED  TELEGRAM  SAVES  McCLELLAN. 

Stanton  continued  to  forward  troops  and  munitions  to  McClel- 
lan ;  Lincoln  to  send  telegrams  and  letters.  The  latter  declared  on 
May  28:  "You  [McClellan]  must  either  attack  Richmond  or  give 
up  the  job  and  come  to  Washington."  Four  days  later  (June  2) 
Stanton  telegraphed: 

Your  telegram  received.  We  greatly  rejoice  at  j'our  success.  *  * 
*  *  You  have  received,  of  course,  the  order  made  yesterday  in  regard 
to  Fortress  Monroe.  The  object  was  to  place  at  your  command  the  dis- 
posable force  of  that  Department.  *  *  *  All  interest  now  centers 
on  your  operations,  and  full  confidence  is  entertained  of  your  brilliant  and 
glorious  success. 

On  June  7  he  telegraphed  that  four  regiments  from  Baltimore 
and  one  from  Washington  had  been  sent ;  that  three  more  would  fol- 
low that  day  and  that  INIcCall  would  move  as  soon  as  transportation 
arrived. 

At  last,  on  June  26,  the  Confederates  attacked  McClellan's  right 
at  Mechanicsville  unsuccessfully;  but  on  the  following  day,  at 
Gaine's  Mill,  they  renewed  the  attack  with  great  slaughter.  On 
the  succeeding  day  (the  28th)  he  ordered  the  entire  army  to  retreat, 
telegraphing  to  Stanton  that  he  was  "not  responsible"  for  the  result 
and  closing:  "If  I  save  the  army  now,  I  tell  you  plainly  that  I  owe 
no  thanks  to  you  or  any  person  in  Washington.  You  have  done  your 
best  to  sacrifice  this  army." 

"Had  such  language  been  used  to  a  superior  in  any  other  coun- 
trv,"  says  General  E.  D.  Townsend,  "and  it  was  directed  to  the 
President  as  well  as  to  the  Secretary,  the  offender  would  have  been 
cashiered,  and,  in  most  countries,  shot." 

But  the  words  quoted  were  omitted*  from  the  copy  of  the  tele- 


♦Neither  the  full  nor  the  mutilated  telegram  is  on  file  in  the  War 
Department.  The  original,  written  by  McClellan,  is  possessed  by  the 
McClellan  family,  and  the  correct  cipher  copy  of  it  as  received  at  Wash- 
ington, is  in  the  hands  of  General  T.  T.  Eckert  of  New  York. 


A  MUTILATED  TELEGRAM  167 

gram  that  was  furnished  to  Stanton  and  by  him  in  turn  handed  to 
Lincoln.  Thus,  no  one  can  say  what  would  have  occurred  had  the 
message  been  delivered  as  indited.  McCIellan  appreciated  the 
gravity  of  his  offense,  for  in  a  letter  to  his  wife  concerning  it  he  said  : 
"Of  course  they  will  never  forgive  me  for  that.  I  knew  it  when  I 
wrote  it.  His  [Stanton's]  reply  may  be  to  avail  himself  of  the  first 
opportunity  to  cut  my  head  off." 

Having  no  knowledge  of  the  offense  that  had  been  committed, 
Stanton  telegraphed : 

We  have  every  confidence  in  your  ability  to  drive  Jackson  back,  and 
shall  lose  no  time  in  aiding  you.  With  every  wish  for  your  success  and 
good  fortune  (and  I  have  never  had  any  other  feeling)   I  am,     etc. 

He  ordered  General  Halleck  to  send  twenty-five  thousand  men 
from  Corinth,  Tennessee,  and  General  Hunter  to  forward  "all  he 
could  spare — ten  thousand  at  least" — from  Hilton  Head,  North 
Carolina.  Halleck,  however,  was  unable  to  detach  so  many  men, 
but  ample  supplies  and  help,  supposed  to  be  needed  though  in  fact 
they  were  not,  were  sent  forward  with  a  rush. 

The  world  has  never  known  how  the  mutilation  of  McClellan's 
unsoldierly  telegram  occurred.  The  full  story  is  now  told  for  the 
first  time  by  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  Stanton's  confidential  clerk : 

Colonel  E.  S.  Sanford  vi^as  supervisor  and  censor  of  telegraphic  mes- 
sages. He  said  to  Assistant-Secretary  Eckert  that  the  charge  against  the 
Secretary  contained  in  the  telegram  of  June  28  was  false — a  charge  of 
treason;  that  the  defeat  of  McClellan's  army  was  due  to  his  own  unfitness 
to  command;  that  his  whole  course  showed  that  he  was  afraid  of  Lee  and 
every  telegram  he  sent  was  proof  of  it;  that  while  it  was  doubtful  whether 
the  censor  had  authority  to  suppress  a  telegram  from  General  McCIellan, 
and  especially  one  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  yet  this  was  such  an  out- 
rageous, such  an  infamous  untruth,  that  he,  as  telegraphic  censor,  could 
not  allow  himself  to  be  used  to  hand  it  to  the  Secretary.  The  telegram, 
minus  the  offensive  words,  was  then  recopied,  and  the  copy  handed  to  Stan- 
ton and  taken  by  him  to  the  President.  Neither  knew  of  its  mutilation, 
and  both  acted  upon  it  in  perfect  ignorance  of  the  terrible  charge  it  had 
previously  contained  against  them. 

I  never  knew  Colonel  Sanford  in  person  to  bring  a  telegram  into  the 
Secretary's  room  till  that  morning,  nor  did  he  often  come  to  the  War 
Department,  having  no  office  in  the  building.  Major  Eckert  had  sent  for 
him  to  know  what  to  do  with  this  telegram,  which  was  evidently  intended 
by  McCIellan  to  reach  the  public  as  a  means  of  shifting  the  cause  of  his 
defeat  from  his  own  to  other  shoulders.  The  suppression  of  it  destroyed  the 
purpose   of   the    sender,   as   he    himself   dared    not    publish    it,    and    it    was 


168  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

not  heard  of  until  brought  forth  as  a  campaign  document*  in  the  presi- 
dential canvass  of  1864,  when  its  author  was  snowed  under. 

The  telegram  was  in  cipher  and  the  first  copy  of  it  was  destroyed;  but 
the  true  message  is  in  the  cipher  book  now  in  possession  of  General  Eckert. 
The  multilated  copy,  published  in  the  Rebellion  Records,  was  taken  from 
the  collection  made  to  be  delivered  to  Stanton  at  the  end  of  the  war;  it 
may  also  be  found  on  p.  302,  Vol.  I.,  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Conduct  of  the  War. 

McClellan's  "Own  Story"  published  in  1887,  charges  Stanton  with 
mutilating  the  telegram  of  June  28,  which  charge  the  world  may  now  see 
is  as  false  as  the  one  expurgated  from  McClellan's  message  by  Colonel 
Sanford. 

Of  this  telegram,  Nicolay  and  Hay,  President  Lincoln's  biographers, 
say: 

"Early  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  June,  he  sent  the  Secretary  of 
War  his  memorable  telegram,  which  was  a  mere  blind  cry  of  despair  and 
insubordination.  The  kind  and  patient  words  with  which  President  Lin- 
coln replied  to  this  unsoldierly  and  unmanly  petulance,  and  the  vigor  put 
forth  by  the  War  Department  to  mitigate  the  danger  with  all  available 
supplies  and  reinforcements,  have  been  related." 

As  Lincoln  never  saw  the  "unsoldierly  and  petulant"  part  of  the  tele- 
gram, his  "kind  and  patient"  words  were  not  in  answer  to  it;  and  Stan- 
ton's vigorous  action  was  not  based  on  McClellan's  charge  of  treason,  but 
on  that  part  of  the  telegram  which  said:  "Not  a  man  in  reserve,  and 
I  shall  be  glad  to  cover  my  retreat  and  save  the  material  and  personnel 
of  the  army." 

Thus  Colonel  Sanford's  expurgation  saved  McClellan  from  dis- 
missal, court-martial,  and  perhaps  something  immeasurably  worse; 
but  it  has  led  easy-going  writers  into  producing  some  remarkable 
"history." 


♦Congress  ordered  5,000  copies  of  McClellan's  final  report  to  be  printed 
and  it  was  circulated  as  a  Democratic  campaign  document. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

McCLELLAN'S  THREAT  TO  SURRENDER. 

Not  knowing  that  the  false  and  offending  words  of  the  message 
described  in  the  previous  chapter  had  been  suppressed,  and  receiving 
no  reproof  for  sending  them,  McClellan  made  bold  to  despatch  his 
father-in-law  and  chief  of  staff  (General  R.  B.  Marcy)  to  say  to 
Stanton  in  person  that  unless  certain  things  were  done  and  he  were 
given  more  perfect  independence,  he  should  have  to  surrender  his 
army  to  Lee !  Stanton,  having  a  dying  child  at  his  country  home, 
was  greatly  distressed  when  Marcy  presented  this  startling  ultima- 
tum. Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  who  was  present  at  the  interview, 
says : 

Mr.  Stanton  was  profoundly  stirred,  perhaps  I  might  say  frightened. 
He  was  already  staggering  under  the  demands  of  the  country  for  military 
activity  on  the  peninsula,  Secretary  Chase's  appeal  for  decisive  army 
movements  as  a  basis  for  national  credit,  McClellan's  inexplicable  droning, 
and  the  critical  condition  of  his  child,  yet  he  instantly  measured  the  awful 
disaster  that  would  follow  the  delivery  of  McClellan's  army  to  Lee — the  loss 
of  the  capital  and  perhaps  the  nation.  He  talked  very  earnestly  to  General 
Marcy,  but  before  the  interview  was  concluded  he  was  called  away  by  a 
message  saying  that  his  baby  was  dying.  The  promise  that  General  Marcy 
expected  to  exact,  was,  therefore,  I  think,  never  put  in  [written]  form. 

There  is  corroborative  testimony  in  the  official  records  of  the 
War  Department  and  among  McClellan's  papers  of  the  truth  of 
Major  Johnson's  relation,  beginning  with  this  telegram,  which  an- 
nounced the  required  promotions : 

July   5,   1862;   2:30   P.    M. 
Major-General  G.  B.  McClellan: 

I  have  nominated  for  promotion  General  E.  V.  Sumner  as  brevet- 
major-general  of  the  regular  service  and  major-general  of  volunteers; 
Generals  Heintzelman,  Keyes,  and  Porter  as  brevet-brigadiers  in  the  reg- 
ular service  and  major-generals  of  volunteers. 

The  gallantry  of  every  officer  and  man  in  your  noble  army  shall 
be  suitably  acknowledged. 


170  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

General  Marcy  is  here  and  will  take  you  cheering  news. 
Be  sure  that  you  will  have  the  support  of  this  Department  and  the 
Government  as  cordially  and  faithfully  as  was  ever  rendered  by  man  to 
man;  and,  if  we  shall  live  to  see  each  other  face  to  face,  you  will  be 
satisfied  that  you  have  never  had  from  me  anything  but  the  most  con- 
fiding integrity. 

Edwin   M.  Stanton, 
Secretary  of  War. 

Before  the  "cheering  news"  thus  promised  had  been  fully  com- 
municated to  General  Marcy,  Stanton  was  called  peremptorily  to 
the  bedside  of  his  child.  In  his  extreme  grief,  and  while  his  carriage 
was  waiting  at  the  door,  he  hastily  penned  a  note  to  General  Marcy 
and  another  to  General  McClellan,  the  latter  as  follows : 

Washington,  D.    C,  July  5,   1862. 
My  Dear  General: 

I  have  talked  to  General  Marcy  and  meant  to  have  written  to  you  by 
him,  but  am  called  to  the  country  where  Mrs.  Stanton  is  with  her  children, 
to  see   one  of  them   die.* 

I  can  therefore  only  say,  my  dear  General,  in  this  brief  moment,  that 
there  is  no  cause  in  my  heart  or  conduct  for  the  cloud  which  wicked  men 
have  raised  between   us   for   their   own   base   and    selfish    purposes. 

No  man  ever  had  a  truer  friend  than  I  have  been  to  you  and  shall 
continue  to  be.  You  are  seldom  absent  from  my  thoughts,  and  I  am 
ready  to  make  any  sacrifice  to  aid  you.  Time  allows  me  to  say  no  more 
than  that  I  pray  Almighty  God  to  deliver  you  and  your  army  from  all 
peril  and  lead  you  on  to  victory. 

Yours  truly, 

Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

The  threats  of  General  Marcy  must  have  been  made  substanti- 
ally as  alleged  by  Major  Johnson,  or  the  throbbing  sentences  of 
Stanton's  communication  to  McClellan  would  have  been  then  and 
would  be  now,  meaningless. 

To  this  letter  McClellan  replied  on  the  8th,  that  "of  all  the  men 
in  the  nation,"  Stanton  was  his  "choice"  for  secretary  of  war ;  that 
it  was  not  too  late  for  them,  working  together,  as  Stanton  had  said 
in  the  beginning,  "to  save  this  country,"  and  that  "it  is  with  feelings 
of  great  relief  that  I  now  say  to  you  that  I  shall  at  once  resume  on 
my  part  the  same  cordial  confidence  which  once  characterised  our  inter- 
course." 


♦The  child,  James  H.  Stanton,  was  buried  on  the  10th, 


President  Lincoln  Visits  McClellan  at  Antikia.m  — 1862. 


McCLELLAN'S  THREAT  TO  SURRENDER  171 

If  "cordial  confidence"  had  not  been  broken  off  by  McCIellan, 
would  there  have  been  any  "cordial  confidence"  for  him  to  "at  once 
resume"? 

While  watching  his  dying  child,  Stanton  requested  Lincoln  to 
go  in  person  to  cheer  McCIellan  in  camp ;  learn  his  wants  and 
grievances ;  dissuade  him  from  surrendering*  and  discover  whether 
he  could  not  be  induced  to  proceed  against  the  enemy  and  thus 
stop  the  public  clamor  against  him.  Lincoln  arrived  on  the  8th, 
spent  the  night  with  McCIellan  and  returned  next  day;  but  Mc- 
CIellan wrote  to  his  wife  that  day  that  he  did  not  think  "his 
excellency  profited  much"  by  the  visit ;  that  is,  McCIellan  conducted 
himself  in  such  a  rebellious  manner  that  the  journey  of  the  Presi- 
dent, his  anxious  commander-in-chief,  was  fruitless! 

On  the  10th — the  day  Stanton  was  burying  his  child — Mc- 
CIellan wrote  to  his  wife :  "I  do  not  know  what  paltry  trick  this 
administration  will  play  next,"  on  the  13th,  that  he  had  "no  faith  in 
the  administration,"  at  1 :30  P.  M.  of  the  same  day,  that  he 
"hated  to  think"  that  "humanity  could  sink  so  low"  as  he  found  it 
in  Stanton,  but  nevertheless  that  "his  opinion  was  just  as  he  had 
told  her,"  concluding  thus:  "He  [Stanton]  has  deceived  me  once; 
he  can  not  and  never  will  again.  Are  you  satisfied  now,  lady  mine? 
I  ever  will  hereafter  trust  your  judgment  about  men.  Your 
woman's  tact  and  your  pure  heart  make  you  a  better  judge  than  my 
dull  apprehension.  I  remember  what  you  thought  of  Stanton  when 
you  first  saw  him.  I  thought  you  were  wrong.  I  now  know  you 
were  right.    Enough  of  the  creature !" 

Did  he  "at  once  resume"  his  "cordial  confidence"  with  Stan- 
ton? Was  he  sincere  when,  five  days  before,  he  wrote  to  Stanton 
that  he  would  do  so?  Is  it  not  wonderful  that  Stanton  was  able  to 
pierce  the  maze  of  falsehood  and  mystery  which  was  flung  about  him 
from  so  many  directions  and  such  high  places?  Is  it  now  difficult  to 
see  why  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  won  no  decisive  battles?  Is 
there,  in  the  face  of  the  testimony  of  McClellan's  own  friends  and 
private  letters,  any  language  of  execration,  condemnation,  and  con- 
tempt that  is  strong  enough  adequately  to  characterize  his  conduct 
toward  Stanton? 


*General  Lew  Wallace  says  that  at  this  time  he  called  upon  Lincoln, 
who  told  him  that  he  was  just  going  to  the  front  to  try  to  dissuade  Mc- 
CIellan from  surrendering. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 
GREAT  BATTLE  WITH  THE  PEN— POPE  SLAUGHTERED. 

Being  required  to  report,  McClellan  stated  that  thirty-eight 
thousand,  two  hundred  and  fifty  able-bodied  men  were  absent  from 
his  command  on  furloughs.  This  fact  coming  up  in  the  cabinet 
meeting  of  July  22,  Stanton  "very  earnestly"  suggested  that  "Mc- 
Clellan be  compelled  to  modify  his  course  or  resign;  otherwise  the 
country  will  and  ought  to  hold  the  administration  responsible  for 
the  failure  of  the  peninsular  campaign.  A  bankrupt  treasury  is  bad 
enough,  but  if  we  bankrupt  national  patriotism,  the  obloquy  of  all 
time  will  not  be  a  sufficient  condemnation  of  our  course." 

Chase  added  that  "the  change  proposed  by  the  Secretary  of 
War  is  a  financial  necessity;  there  are  now  ten  million  dollars  of 
unpaid  requisitions  out  and  the  amount  is  increasing."  Lincoln 
refused  to  act,  however,  and  Stanton  returned  to  his  altogether  dis- 
couraging task. 

Telegrams  from  Lee  to  Stuart,  intercepted  on  July  17,  disclosed 
that  the  Confederate  purpose  was  to  mass  a  great  force  in  front  of 
Pope  and  suddenly  crush  him  before  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
which  McClellan  was  mobilizing  about  Fortress  Monroe,  could 
come  to  the  rescue,  and  then  rush  on  and  capture  Washington, 
McClellan  was  advised  of  this  plan.  He  could  have  gone  to  Pope, 
who,  knowing  what  Lee  proposed,  retreated  behind  the  Rappahan- 
nock ;  or  he  could  have  advanced  upon  Richmond  and  compelled 
Lee  to  return  to  save  the  Confederate  capital.  He  did  neither,  and 
refused  steadily  to  obey  all  commands  to  do  either. 

The  first  telegram  along  this  line,  on  July  30,  ordered  him  to 
send  off  his  sick,  for  whom  quarters  had  been  prepared,  in  order 
to  be  ready  to  move  his  army.  He  did  not  obey,  so  another  tele- 
gram was  sent  August  2  saying  the  President  wished  a  reply.  On 
the  3d  he  replied :  "Until  I  am  informed  what  is  to  be  done  with 
this  army  I  cannot  act  understandingly  for  the  good  of  the  ser- 
vice." He  was  answered :  "It  was  expected  that  you  would  send 
off  your  sick  as  directed  without  waiting  to  know  what  were  or 


GREAT  BATTLE  WITH  THE  PEN  173 

what  would  be  the  intentions  of  the  Government." 

From  day  to  day  he  was  ordered  to  make  haste  and  on  the  9th 
was  informed  that  the  enemy  was  massing  forces  in  front  of  Pope 
and  Burnside  with  the  intention  of  crushing  them  and  marching  on 
to  the  Potomac :  "You  must  send  reinforcements  instantly  to 
Aquia  Creek.  Considering  the  amount  of  transportation  at  your 
disposal,  your  delay  is  not  satisfactory."  Next  day  General-in-Chief 
Halleck  telegraphed  that  "the  enemy  is  fighting  Pope  to-day. 
There  must  be  no  further  delay  in  your  movements.  That  which 
has  already  occurred  was  entirely  unexpected  and  must  be  satis- 
factorily explained." 

At  the  very  moment  these  numerous  and  urgent  orders  from 
Washington  were  being  disobeyed,  one  of  McClellan's  own  generals 
and  partisans  was  asking  permission  to  strike  the  blow  so  desper- 
ately demanded  by  Stanton — the  blow  which  would  have  saved  Pope 
and  turned  the  tide  of  the  war.  It  was  sent  through  McClellan's 
father-in-law  (General  Marcy)  by  General  Alfred  Pleasanton: 

Haxall's  Landing,  August  11,  1862. 
General  R.  B.  Marcy,  Chief-of-Staff, 

General: — Your  note  of  this  date  received.  There  are  moments  when 
the  most  decided  action  is  necessary  to  save  us  from  great  disasters.  I 
think  such  a  moment  has  arrived. 

The  enemy  before  us  is  weak.  A  crushing  blow  by  this  army  at  this 
time  would  be  invaluable  to  disconcert  the  troops  of  the  enemy  to  the 
north  of  us.  That  blow  can  be  made  in  forty-eight  hours.  Two  corps 
would  do  it,  and  be  in  position  to  go  wherever  else  they  may  be  ordered  by 
that  time. 

From  all  I  can  learn  there  are  not  36,000  men  between  this  and  Rich- 
mond, nor  do  I  believe  that  they  can  get  more  before  we  can  whip  them. 
I  have  guides  ready,  and  know  the  roads  sufficiently  well  to  accomplish 
anything  the  General  wants. 

I  write  this  as  a  friend.  I  shall  willingly  carry  out  the  General's 
orders,  be  they  what  they  may;  but  I  think  he  has  an  opportunity  at  this 
time  few  men  ever  attain. 

Destroy  this,  and  whatever  I  have  said  shall  not  be  repeated  by  mQ 
Very  truly  yours, 

A.  Pleasanton. 

The  foregoing,  not  used  by  the  historians  but,  through  an 
error,  left  on  file  in  the  War  Department,  clearly  establishes  Mc- 
Clellan's persistent  and  disastrous  insubordination,  as  well  as  what 
his  own  friends  thought  of  it  at  that  moment. 

On  the  21st  he  was  advised:  "Pope  and  Burnside  are  hard 
pushed  and  require  aid  as  rapidly  as  you  can  send  it.    Come  yourself 


174  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

as  soon  as  you  can."  On  the  24th  he  arrived  at  Aquia  Creek,  with 
orders  to  proceed  to  Alexandria  and  "take  entire  charge  of  sending 
out  troops,"  and  reached  that  city  by  boat  on  the  evening  of  the 
26th. 

On  the  following  morning  Herman  Haupt,  Stanton's  director 
of  Military  Railways,  went  in  a  rowboat  to  search  for  McClellan 
among  the  fleet  of  transports.  On  finding  him,  surrounded  by  his 
staflf  and  writing  materials,  Haupt  lost  no  time  in  disclosing  that 
Pope  was  out  of  forage  and  rations,  Lee  tearing  at  his  rear,  com- 
munication cut  off,  and  relief  imperatively  demanded.  He  then 
rowed  McClellan  ashore  and  explained  how,  if  protection  were 
granted  for  the  trains,  relief  could  be  promptly  sent,  but  was 
told  in  reply  that  the  undertaking  was  "too  risky" — as  if  war 
could  be  prosecuted  without  risk !  Refusing  to  provide  protection, 
approve  Haupt's  plan,  or  make  any  suggestion  of  his  own,  Mc- 
Clellan called  for  a  drink  of  brandy,  mounted  a  horse  and  rode 
away! 

At  that  moment  there  were  thirty  thousand  veteran  troops  in 
camp  near  Alexandria,  within  sixteen  miles  of  the  spot  where  Pope's 
handful  of  weary  men  was  being  slaughtered ;  but,  as  his  "Own 
Story"  (page  529)  shows,  McClellan  was  so  busy  preparing  a 
journal  and  writing  to  his  wife  that  he  could  not  cooperate  with 
Haupt  to  save  Pope  from  annihilation  and  the  capital  from  peril. 
He  began  writing  in  the  early  "A.  M.,"  and  at  10:30  A.  M.,  after 
Haupt  had  ceased  begging  him  for  help,  complained  to  his  wife 
that  he  had  "been  again  interrupted  by  telegrams  requiring  replies." 

That  a  general  of  the  army  was  not  permitted  to  devote  his 
mornings,  noons,  and  evenings  to  writing  copiously  to  his  wife 
without  being  "interrupted  by  telegrams  requiring  replies,"  and 
that  he  was  not  allowed  to  make  military  history  with  a  pen  instead 
of  a  sword  without  "interruption"  at  10:30  in  the  morning,  is  un- 
questionably the  blackest  shame  in  American  history ! 

Haupt,  exasperated  at  the  unmistakable  disposition  to  let  Pope 
perish,  determined  to  send  succor  at  any  hazard.  Having  pre- 
pared a  relief  train,  he  asked  McClellan,  who  had  been  rediscovered, 
for  a  convoy  of  two  hundred  sharp-shooters.  At  1  o'clock  in 
the  morning  of  the  28th,  the  request  being  ungranted,  Haupt 
secured  a  lantern  and  walked  four  miles  to  General  Hancock's  camp 
and,  routing  that  superb  officer  out  of  bed,  promptly  secured  the 


GREAT  BATTLE  WITH  THE  PEN  175 

required  escort  and  at  4  o'clock  that  morning  began  despatching 
the  relief  trains  that  were  so  sorely  needed. 

Pope's  army,  after  the  pluckiest  resistance  human  creatures 
could  offer,  was  overwhelmed,  though  not  until  the  supply  of  green 
apples  and  crackers  and  of  ammunition  was  exhausted  and  the 
shattered  band  worn  out.  The  first  part  of  McClellan's  prophecy  to 
his  wife  that  "Pope  will  be  badly  thrashed  within  ten  days  and 
then  they  will  be  glad  to  turn  over  the  redemption  of  affairs  to  me," 
thanks  to  his  own  recalcitrant  conduct,  came  very  near  being  ful- 
filled, but  the  desperate  fighting  of  Pope's  men  held  Lee's  fiery 
army  in  check  and  saved  Washington. 

Yet  if  Lee  had  known  the  real  situation — that  McClellan  was 
inactive  and  rejoicing  at  Alexandria  and  that  Pope  had  neither 
bread,  bullets,  nor  reinforcements — he  would  have  swept  on  to 
Washington  and  set  up  the  Confederate  government  in  the  Federal 
capital ! 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

AN  EVERLASTING  INDICTMENT— McCLELLAN 
REINSTATED. 

Although  not  personally  participating  in  the  great  battle  of 
telegrams*  between  Washington  and  Alexandria,  Stanton  was 
acting  on  its  disclosures.  On  August  28,  he  asked  Halleck  for  an 
official  report  upon  the  disobedience  of  "the  general  commanding 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac."  While  this  record  was  being  compiled 
and  while  Pope  was  being  pounded  back  by  Lee's  desperate  assaults 
for  want  of  the  support  which  was  near  at  hand,  Stanton  himself 
was  etching  into  history  a  terrible  indictment. 

On  appearing  at  the  War  Office  in  the  morning  of  the  30th, 
he  drew  the  subjoined  protest,  written  in  his  own  hand,  in  large  out- 
line on  both  sides  of  the  sheet,  with  several  erasures  and  inter- 
lineations, from  an  inner  pocket  of  his  coat.  A  fair  copy  was  made 
by  Assistant-Secretary  Watson  to  be  signed  by  the  members  of 
the  cabinet  and  submitted  to  Lincoln,  as  follows: 

Washington  City,  August  30th,  1862. 
Mr.  President:     "^ 

The  undersigned  feel  compelled  by  a  profound  sense  of  duty  to  the 
Government  and  people  of  the  United  States  and  to  yourself  as  your  con- 
stitutional advisers,  respectfully  to  recommend  the  immediate  removal  of 
George  B.  McClellan  from  the  command  of  any  army  in  the  United  States. 
We  are  constrained  to  urge  this  by  the  conviction  that  after  a  sad  and 
humiliating  trial  of  twelve  months  and  by  the  frightful  and  useless  sacrifice 
of  the  lives  of  many  thousands  of  brave  men  and  the  waste  of  many 
millions  of  national  means,  he  has  proved  to  be  incompetent  for  any 
important  military  command.  And  also  because  by  recent  disobedience  to 
superior  orders  and  inactivity  he  has  twice  imperiled  the  army  commanded 
by  General  Pope,  and  while  he  continues  to  command  will  daily  hazard  the 
fate  of  our  armies  and  our  national  existence,  exhibiting  no  sign  of  a  dis- 
position or  capacity  to  restore  the  national  honor  that  has  been  so  deeply 
tarnished  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  by  his  military  failures. 


*McClellan   received   ten    telegrams    on    one    subject — ordering    him    to 
send  General  Franklin  to  the  aid  of  Pope — and  disobeyed  all  of  them. 


AN  EVERLASTING  INDICTMENT  177 

We  are  unwilling  to  be  accessory  to  the  waste  of  national  resources, 
the  protraction  of  the  war,  the  destruction  of  our  armies,  and  the  imperiling 
of  the  Union  which  we  believe  must  result  from  the  continuance  of  George 
B.  McClellan  in  command,  and  seek  therefore  by  his  prompt  removal  to 
afford  an  opportunity  to  capable  officers,  under  God's  providence,  to  protect 
our  national   existence. 

Stanton  and  Chase  having  signed,  the  latter  took  the  document 
for  further  circulation  among  the  cabinet  officers.  Secretary  Smith 
signed  readily,  but  Attorney-General  Bates,  objecting  to  the  form 
in  which  the  matter  was  presented,  prepared  (adopting  the  senti- 
ments and  conclusion  of  Stanton's  paper)  a  shorter  and  more 
quiet  petition,  which  was  also  signed  by  Stanton,  Chase,  Smith, 
and  Bates.  The  line  left  for  Welles  is  blank,  although  he  had,. 
Chase  says,  promised  to  affix  his  signature,  and  probably  would 
have  done  so  if  a  sudden  change  in  the  course  of  events  had  not 
intervened. 

The  partly-signed  protest,  together  with  Halleck's  report  of 
even  date  showing  that  McClellan  had  been  in  a  state  of  insub- 
ordination for  a  month,  were  read  by  Lincoln  on  the  high  desk 
in  Stanton's  private  office.  He  hung  over  the  documents  almost  a 
full  day,  toward  the  close  of  which  he  wrote  and  several  times 
re-wrote  a  paper  which  has  never  been  made  public.  He  did  not 
think  it  wise  technically  and  in  writing  to  relieve  McClellan,  but 
that  simply  to  leave  him  at  Alexandria  without  anything  to  do,  with 
no  men  or  orders,  there  to  gnaw  a  file,  would  prove  the  more 
judicious  course. 

Although  being  terribly  punished,  Pope  was  nevertheless  ex- 
pected to  win,  and  it  was  Stanton's  purpose  to  relieve  Mc- 
Clellan and  announce  the  fact  to  the  country  at  the  moment  of  vic- 
tory. 

On  this  point  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  who  witnessed  all  of  the 
conferences,  says : 

The  President  thought  that  to  give  out  Mr.  Stanton's  original  indict- 
ment, which  recited  exact  and  terrible  reasons  for  relieving  McClellan, 
would  set  ten  thousand  McClellanite  tongues  to  wagging  and  an  hundred 
thousand  copperhead  teeth  to  biting,  and  he  had  enough  of  those  things 
already.  So,  after  consulting  a  long,  long  time  with  Mr.  Stanton,  he  con- 
cluded to  say  to  the  people  merely,  if  he  said  anything:  "You  come  to 
me  and  I  will  tell  you  all  about  McClellan" — a  plan  to  which,  of  course, 
Mr.  Stanton  felt  compelled  to  assent,  although  against  his  judgm^ejit. 


178  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

McClellan  arrived  at  Washington  on  the  morning  of  September 

1,  to  see  Halleck  "alone."  In  the  meantime  Colonel  J.  C,  Kelton, 
who  had  been  despatched  to  learn  Pope's  condition  and  predict 
future  movements  of  the  enemy,  had  returned  and  reported  the 
Federal  rout  complete,  the  surrounding  country  filled  with 
stragglers,  and  Lee's  way  to  Washington  practically  unobstructed. 
This  depressing  information  having  been  communicated  to  Lincoln 
by  Stanton,  the  former,  before  sunrise  of  the  morning  of  September 

2,  visited  McClellan  at  his  house  in  company  with  Halleck  and, 
instead  of  dismissing  him  as  had  been  agreed,  expressed  great  fear 
that  Washington  was  lost  and  told  him  to  take  command  of  local 
and  incoming  forces  and  to  do  the  best  he  could  to  protect  the 
capital. 

Although  in  his  "Own  Story,"  written  over  twenty  years 
later,  McClellan  alleges  that  he  disagreed  with  Lincoln  and  Halleck 
as  to  the  peril  of  the  capital,  he  wrote  to  his  wife  from  Alexandria 
at  11:30  P.  M.  of  August  31:  "I  do  not  regard  Washington  as  safe 
against  the  rebels.  If  I  can  slip  quietly  over  there  I  will  send  your 
silver  off."  Knowing  that  his  failure  to  support  Pope  meant  the 
probable  loss  of  the  capital,  he  proposed  to  "slip"  over  secretly, 
contrary  to  orders,  and  send  the  family  silver  away,  so  that  it 
should  not  fall,  with  Lincoln  and  Stanton  and  the  other  "hounds," 
into  the  hands  of  Lee !  He  was  anxious  to  save  his  tableware  but 
not  the  capital  and  head  officers  of  the  nation ! 

Stanton  appeared  in  the  War  Office  much  earlier  than  usual 
that  morning,  deeply  absorbed  and,  going  straight  to  the  high  desk 
at  which  Lincoln  and  himself  had  stood  in  profound  and  painful 
earnestness  for  two  days  and  nights,  gathered  up  the  McClellan 
protests  and  accompanying  papers  and  suppressed  them,  and, 
Halleck's  report  excepted,  not  one  of  them  ever  saw  the  light  until 
all  of  the  chief  actors  in  that  tragic  drama  had  passed  from  earth. 

Pope  was  whipped,  not  victorious  as  had  been  hoped,  and 
Stanton  had  learned  that  Lincoln,  instead  of  dismissing  McClellan, 
had,  before  daylight  that  morning,  personally  ordered  him  to  take 
command  of  the  forces  about  Washington.* 

Thus  himself  and  the  remainder  of  the  cabinet  except  Blair 


*When  the  formal  order  was  ready  to  issue,  Stanton  eliminated  the 
usual  words,  "by  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War,"  and  forbade  their  use 
therein,  and  "by  order  of  General  Halleck"  was  substituted  by  Adjutant- 
General  Townsend. 


AN  EVERLASTING  INDICTMENT  179 

(Seward  having  straddled)  had  been  overridden.  Lincoln  appre- 
ciated the  situation,  for  he  did  not  visit  Stanton  again  in  the  War 
Office  for  a  month,  Major  Johnson  says,  and  not  as  freely  as 
formerly  until  shortly  before  he  issued  the  order  retiring  Mc- 
Clellan  permanently  from  the  military  service. 

An  instructive  picture  of  that  eventful  day  is  thus  given  by 
General  M.  C.  Meigs: 

The  contrast  between  Lincoln  and  Stanton  at  the  time  Pope  was 
defeated  and  Lee  appeared  before  Washington,  was  very  great.  The 
latter  was  steaming  about  with  vigor,  under  great  pressure,  issuing  volley 
after  volley  of  orders  to  be  executed  "at  once"  for  the  safety  of  the  city, 
for  at  first  we  all  thought  the  capital  was  really  going  to  be  captured. 
Lincoln,  on  the  other  hand,  dropped  into  my  room  on  his  weary  way 
to  see  Stanton,  drew  himself  way  down  into  a  big  chair  and,  with  a 
mingled  groan  and  sigh,  exclaimed:  "Chase  says  we  can't  raise  any  more 
money;  Pope  is  licked  and  McClellan  has  the  diarrhoea.  What  shall 
I  do?    The  bottom  is  out  of  the  tub,  the  bottom  is  out  of  the  tub!" 

I  told  the  President  to  meet  his  generals  with  Stanton,  fix  the  bottom 
back  in  the  tub,  rally  the  army,  and  order  another  advance  at  once.  This 
seemed  to  brace  him  up  a  little  and  he  went  on  to  the  War  Department; 
but  for  the  moment  he  was  completely  discouraged  and  downhearted. 
Stanton,  on  the  other  hand,  was  more  full  of  power  and  vehement  energy 
than  ever. 

And  thus  another  picture  by  Adjutant-General  E.  D.  Town- 
send: 

Secretary  Stanton  was  thoroughly  frightened  when  news  came  that 
Pope  had  been  routed.  I  do  not  mean  that  he  personally  was  scared,  but 
he  feared  Washington  would  be  captured  by  the  Confederates. 

There  was  a  large  and  valuable  depot  of  supplies  and  stores  in  the  city 
for  distribution  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Mr.  Stanton,  determined 
that  it  should  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  ordered  General 
Maynadier  to  prepare  instantly  to  move  everything  out;  and,  if  there 
should  be  anything  he  could  not  move,  to  destroy  it  before  leaving.  A 
few  hours  later  more  reassuring  news  came  in  and  the  order  was  recalled. 

Several  times  I  saw  Mr.  Stanton  when  he  was  very  much  in  earnest, 
but  at  this  time  his  anger  and  indignation  with  McClellan  for  refusing  to 
cooperate  with  Pope  were  immeasurable.* 

The  situation,  in  view  of  the  general  lack  of  definite  informa- 
tion, was  indeed  critical.  Confederate  scouts  had  arranged  to  have 
their  army  cross  the  Potomac  near  Georgetown,  D.  C. ;  the  Treas- 

*ConfidentiaI  Clerk  A.  E.  H.  Johnson  says:  "I  believe  that  if  Mc- 
Clellan had  been  present  when  the  news  of  Pope's  defeat  came  in,  the 
Secretary  would  have  assaulted  him.     I  never  saw  him  so  enraged." 


180  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

ury  was  barricaded  with  hundreds  of  barrels  of  cement ;  Stanton  had 
gathered  the  more  important  papers  of  his  office  into  such  bundles 
as  could  be  carried  by  men  on  foot  or  horseback,  should  the 
occasion  arise  ;  thousands  of  persons  had  fled  the  city  ;  panic-stricken 
fragments  of  the  broken  Federal  armies  were  pouring  in,  and  con- 
fusion and  incoherency  were  universal. 

Later  in  the  day  (September  2)  the  cabinet  met.  The  entire 
subject  was  gone  over,  during  which  Lincoln  said  that  while  Mc- 
Clellan's  conduct  had  been  "atrocious"  and  "shocking,"  he  saw 
no  course  open  except  the  one  he  had  pursued. 

In  some  form  or  other  every  member  of  the  cabinet  except 
Stanton  has  given  an  account  of  that  spirited  meeting.  For  months 
he  had  exerted  himself  in  vain  to  prevent  the  perilous  situation  that 
was  then  upon  the  nation,  and  could  well  afford  to  let  others  do  the 
talking. 

That  Stanton  was  not  misinformed  concerning  McClellan's  an- 
gry hostility  to  Pope,  his  attitude  of  rebellion  against  Lincoln,  Hal- 
leck,  and  himself,  and  his  general  determination  to  disobey  all  or- 
ders* from  Washington,  is  amply  proven  by  the  shreds  of  corre- 
spondence with  Mrs.  McClellan  and  W.  H.  Aspinwall  which  were 
permitted  to  see  light  in  McClellan's  "Own  Story": 

July  17 — You  do  not  feel  more  bitterly  towards  those  people  [at 
Washington]  than  I  do.  *  *  *  j  fg^r  they  have  done  all  that 
cowardice  and  folly  can  do  to  ruin  our  poor  country.         *         *         *  j^ 

makes  my  blood  boil  when  I  think  of  it. 

July  19— [To  W.  H.  Aspinwall,  New  York.]  *  *  *  My  main 
object  in  writing  to  you  is  to  ask  you  to  be  kind  enough  to  cast  your 
eyes  about  to  see  whether  there  is  anything  I  can  do  in  New  York  to 
earn  a  respectable  support  for  my  family. 

July  20 — I  believe  that  it  is  now  certain  that  Halleck  is  commander- 
in-chief.  *  *  *  I  cannot  remain  permanently  in  the  armyt 
after  this   slight         *         *         *         j   have   had   enough    of    earthly   honors 


*A  special  committee  appointed  by  the  Military  Historical  Society  of 
Massachusetts  to  report  impartially  upon  McClellan's  conduct,  censured 
him  with  great  severity,  declaring  that  "owing  to  his  profound  con- 
tempt" for  his  superiors  he  did  not  "propose  to  obey  orders"  and,  among 
several  other  indictments,  declared  that  "simple  obedience  to  the  orders 
of  the  General-in-Chief  [Halleck]  would  have  saved  the  country  from 
immense  losses." 


fin  Volume  IV.  of  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  Ulysses 
S.  Grant  says:  "The  worst  excuse  a  soldier  can  make  for  declining  service 
is  that  of  having  once  ranked  the  commander  he  is  ordered  to  report  to." 


Stanton's  Indictment  of  McCi.ei.lan. 


ye<y^i  ^21^'' 


(rf-  Uuy  ^\^JU^^<y^ 


Stanton's  Indictment  of  McClellan. 


AN  EVERLASTING  INDICTMENT  181 

and  place.         *         *         *         *         j  ^j^  gj^,j^  ^^^  weary  of  this  business.     I 
am  tired  of  serving  fools. 

July  21 — I  see  that  the  Pope  bubble  is  likely  to  be  suddenly  collapsed. 
Jackson  is  after  him  and  the  young  man  who  wanted  to  teach  me  the  art 
of  war  will,  in  less  than  a  week,  either  be  in  full  retreat  or  badly  whipped. 
July  30—1  am  sorry  to  say  that         *         *         *         (.qq  much  faith  can- 
not be  rested  in  Halleck. 

August  2 — When  you  contrast  the  policy  I  urged  in  my  letter  [of  July 
8]  to  the  President  with  that  of  Congress  and  Mr.  Pope,  you  can  readily 
agree  with  me  that  there  can  be  little  confidence  between  the  Government 
and  myself.  IVe  are  the  antipodes  of  each  other.  *  *  *  ButT  shall 
consult  my  sense  of  right  and  my  own  judgment,  not  deferring  to  that  of 
others. 

August  8 — I  will  issue  to-morrow  an  order  giving  my  comments  on  Mr. 
John  Pope.  I  will  strike  square  in  the  teeth  of  all  his  infamous  orders  and 
give  directly  the  reverse  instructions  to  my  army.  *  *  *  j  j^^ve 
received  my  orders  from  Halleck.  *  *  *  They  are  as  bad  as 
they  can  be  and  I  regard  them  as  almost  fatal  to  our  cause.  *  *  * 
I  shall  obey  the  orders  unless  the  enemy  gives  me  a  very  good  open- 
ing. *  *  *  I  had  another  letter  from  Halleck  to-night.  I 
strongly  suspect  him. 

August  10 — The  absurdity  of  Halleck's  course  in  ordering  the  army 
away  from  here  is  that  it  cannot  reach  Washington  in  time  to  do  any 
good,  but  will  be  necessarily  too  late.  I  hope  to  be  ready  to-morrow 
afternoon  to  move  forward  in  the  direction  of  Richmond.  *  *  *  * 
Halleck  is  turning  out  just  like  the  rest  of  the  herd.  *  *  *  j 
half  apprehend  they  will  be  too  quick  for  me  in  Washington  and  relieve 
me  before  I  have  the  chance  of  making  the  dash.  *  *  *  j  ^j^ 
satisfied  the   dolts   in  Washington   are  bent   on   my   destruction.         *         * 

*  They  are  committing  a  fatal  error  in  withdrawing  me  from 
here  *  *  *  j  think  the  result  *  *  *  ^jjj  ^^  xhzt 
Pope  will  be  badly  thrashed  within  ten  days  and  they  will  be  glad  to  turn 
the  redemption  of  afifairs  over  to  me. 

August  14 — I  shall  conduct  the  march  to  Fortress  Monroe  and  attend 
to  the  embarkation  thence;  my  mind  is  pretty  much  made  up  to  try  to  break 
off  at  that  point. 

August  21 — I  still  think  they  will  put  me  on  the  shelf  or  do  something 
disagreeable  to  get  rne  out  of  the  way.  I  shall  be  glad  of  anything  that 
severs  my  connection  with  such  a  set.  *  *  *  They  may  go 
to  the  deuce  in  their  own  way. 

August  22 — I  shall  be  only  too  happy  to  get  back  to  quiet  life  again. 
*  *  *  *  I  am  not  fond  of  being  made  a  target  for  the  abuse  and 
slander  of  all  the  rascals  in  the  country. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
SLAVES— STANTON  THE  REAL  EMANCIPATOR. 

Lincoln  was  elected  on  a  strong  pro-slavery  platform,  which 
he  endorsed  in  his  letter  of  acceptance.  In  his  inaugural  address 
he  declared :  "I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere 
with  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists.  I  believe  I  have  no 
lawful  right  to  do  so." 

Jefferson  Davis,  the  insurgent  president,  entertained  the  same 
view  and  made  war  to  enforce  it. 

Stanton,  coming  on  a  year  later,  declared  that  Lincoln  was  not 
bound  by  the  platform  of  1860,  nor  by  his  letter  of  acceptance,  nor 
yet  by  his  inaugural  address.  Conditions  had  changed  since  then. 
"Those  pledges  had  been  wiped  out  by  the  very  war  they  had  been 
expected  to  avert,"  he  urged.  Lincoln  adhered  to  different  views, 
so  Stanton  was  compelled  to  take  practical  action  upon  matters 
as  he  foun^  them.  His  situation  was  difficult.  The  upheaving  fer- 
ment of  war  was  inciting  thousands  of  slaves  to  escape  into  the 
Union  armies  and  communities.  General  B.  F.  Butler  had  termed 
them  "contraband  of  war"  and  set  them  to  work.  General  John 
C.  Fremont  had  proclaimed  all  slaves  within  his  jurisdiction 
(Missouri)  free,  which  proclamation  Lincoln  annulled ;  General 
Phelps,  disregarding  Lincoln's  revocations,  declared  from  Ship 
Island,  Mississippi,  that  the  slaves  within  his  district  were  free, 
and  General  Grant  forbade  any  party  from  crossing  the  Federal 
lines  to  hunt  escaped  slaves  or  the  return  of  slaves  "used  by  the 
enemy  in  any  manner  hostile  to  the  Government"  *  *  * 
and  that  they  should  "be  employed  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Government." 

Stanton  lost  no  time  in  urging  the  necessity  of  "knocking  the 
main  prop"  from  under  the  secession  cause,  but  Lincoln  and  the 
remaining  members  of  the  cabinet  (except  Chase)  seemed  to  be 
immovably  set  against  his  policy.  However,  Lincoln  soon  realized 
the  fatality  of  unalterable  opposition  in  time  of  war  to  his  war 
minister,  and  unfolded  his  proclamation  of  March  6,  1862,  in  which 


SLAVES— STANTON  THE  REAL  EMANCIPATOR  1S3 

Congress  was  asked  to  cooperate  financially  with  any  State  wishing 

to  gradually  abolish  slavery. 

"Such  a  proposition  on  the  part  of  the  general  Government," 
said  Lincoln,  "sets  up  no  claims  of  right  by  Federal  authority  to 
interfere  with  slavery  within  State  limits,  referring  as  it  does  the 
absolute  control  of  the  subject  in  each  case  to  the  State  and  its 
people  immediately  interested." 

"We  shall  be  compelled  to  retreat  from  that  policy  or  retreat 
from  Washington,"  urged  Stanton.  "We  shall  be  forced  to  deal 
with  slaves  as  with  any  other  form  of  enemy's  property.  There 
will  be  no  action  whatever  under  the  resolution  you  propose. 
Besides,  it  commits  the  administration  to  the  theory  that  this  is  not 
a  nation,  the  very  theory  for  which  the  secessionists  are  contending 
with  force  and  arms." 

Lincoln,  without  responding  to  Stanton's  argument,  put  the 
question  to  a  vote  and  his  proclamation  was  approved  3  to  2,  Stan- 
ton not  voting.  Thereupon  it  was  uttered,  but  as  Stanton  pre- 
dicted, "no  action  whatever"  was  taken  under  it  by  any  of  the 
States  affected.  It  was  not  even  published  by  the  newspapers  of 
those  States. 

The  earliest  official  utterance  indicative  that  Stanton  did  not 
agree  and  could  not  successfully  act  in  accord  with  Lincoln's  views 
on  slavery,  is  contained  in  a  letter  dated  May  5,  1862,  to  General 
IMitchell,  in  which  he  said: 

The  assistance  of  slaves  is  an  element  of  military  strength  which 
you  are  fully  justified  in  employing.  *  *  *  jj.  ^^^  been  freely 
employed  by  the  enemy  and  to  abstain  from  its  judicious  use  when  it  can 
be  employed  with  military  advantage  would  be  a  failure  to  employ  means 
to  suppress  the  Rebellion  and  restore  the  authority  of  the  Government. 

On  May  9,  1862,  General  David  Hunter  issued  a  proclamation 
declaring  all  the  slaves  in  his  territory — Georgia,  Florida,  and 
South  Carolina — "forever  free."  Lincoln  promptly  set  it  aside  as 
void,  but  the  Africans  looked  upon  it  as  valid  and  flocked  to  its 
author  by  thousands.  He  subsisted  and  made  use  of  them  as  if  they 
were  free,  whereupon  Congress  asked  Stanton  whether  he  had  per- 
mitted certain  generals  to  profit  by  the  work  and  services  of 
colored  persons  and  whether  he  had  issued  arms  and  clothing  for 
those  "slaves."  He  made  a  significant  answer:  He  had  no  "official" 
information  as  to  whether  General  Hunter  had  organized  a  regi- 
ment of  "black  men,  fugitive  slaves,"  and  that  whije  Hunter  hacl 


184  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

"not  been  authorized  to  organize  and  muster"  those  black  men,  he 
had  been  furnished  with  clothing  and  arms  for  the  forces  under  his 
command  "without  instructions  as  to  where  they  should  be  used." 

Thus,  while  Lincoln,  so  far  as  proclamations  could  do  so,  was 
returning  negroes  in  Georgia,  Florida,  and  South  Carolina  to 
slavery,  Stanton  was  silently  but  eflfectively  equipping  them  to 
strike  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  But  he  much  disliked  the 
position  into  which  he  was  being  forced  by  the  attitude  of  the 
President  on  the  one  hand  and  the  constantly  augmenting  number 
of  escaping  slaves  he  was  compelled  to  deal  with  throughout  the 
army  on  the  other,  and  decided,  in  May,  1862,  to  issue  an  emancipa- 
tion, or,  as  he  conceived  it,  "Confiscation  Proclamation,"  on  his  own 
responsibility. 

He  submitted  the  draft  to  Generals  Townsend  and  IMeigs — to 
the  former  as  acting  adjutant-general  who  would  have  to  issue  the 
document,  and  to  the  latter  as  quartermaster-general  who  would 
have  to  provide  the  increased  clothing,  equipment,  and  stores  con- 
sequent on  such  a  step.  On  this  point  nothing  could  be  more  inter- 
esting or  trustworthy  than  the  testimony  of  General  Townsend : 

At  about  the  time  the  President  annulled  General  Hunter's  proclama- 
tion in  relation  to  slaves,  Mr.  Stanton  handed  me  an  order,  in  his  own  pen- 
manship, declaring  that  all  slaves  and  other  estate  of  rebellious  persons 
had  been  forfeited  to  the  United  States  and  instructing  commanders  to  re- 
gard blacks  coming  within  the  terms  thereof  as  free,  as  in  fact,  they  were, 
and  to  treat  them  accordingly. 

The  paper  was  carefully  but  strongly  worded.  Mr.  Stanton  asked  me 
whether  any  military  corrections  were  required  and  whether  I  doubted  his 
authority  to  issue  it.  At  the  close  of  the  day  I  returned  the  order  to  him 
with  one  or  two  verbal  changes  and  said  to  him  that  I  had  no  doubt  of  his 
authority  to  issue  it  if  he  thought  advisable  to  do  so.  My  impression  is  that 
Peter  H.  Watson,  assistant  secretary  of  war,  secured  legal  opinions  con- 
firmatory of  Mr.  Stanton's  claim  that  he  could  treat  the  slaves  of  insurgent 
owners  as  forfeited  to  the  State;  and,  as  the  State  could  have  no  bondmen, 
that  such  slaves  were  therefore  free. 

It  would  have  been  my  duty  as  acting  adjutant-general,  to  issue  the  or- 
der; hence,  Mr.  Stanton's  consultation  with  me  about  it.  There  was  so 
much  commotion  over  military  orders  declaring  certain  blacks  free  that  Mr. 
Stanton,  wholly  out  of  consideration  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  dropped  his  procla- 
mation and  instigated  the  Confiscation  Act  [passed  on  July  17,  1862]  which 
accomplished  the  same  purpose  with  less  friction. 

Lincoln  proposed  to  veto  and  actually  wrote  a  message  vetoing 
the  Confiscation  Act  asked  for  by  Stanton,  holding  it  to  be  uncon- 


SLAVES— STANTON  THE  REAL  EMANCIPATOR  185 

stitutional.  He  said,  as  he  had  often  said  before,  that  Congress  had 
no  right  to  legislate  respecting  slavery  in  the  States,  and  that  not 
the  property  of  rebels  in  fee  but  simply  the  offender's  life  estate 
therein  could  be  forfeited  to  the  United  States.* 

Stanton  advised  that  this  contention  w^as  erroneous  in  law, 
wrong  in  theory,  and  destructive  in  practise ;  but,  as  the  President 
would  not  yield,  a  declaratory  resolution  was  swiftly  prepared  and 
passed  by  Congress  a  few  hours  later,  on  the  same  day,  explaining 
that  the  act  was  not  intended  to  do  more  than  forfeit  the  life  estate 
of  insurgents  in  their  confiscated  property. 

Later  Lincoln  was  forced  to  recede  from  his  position  and, 
through  George  W.  Julian,  acknowledged  his  error  to  Congress. 
Thereupon  a  bill  to  repeal  the  explanatory  limitation  was  presented 
and  Stanton's  wisdom  vindicated ;  not,  however,  before  there  had 
been  a  great  waste  of  national  effort  and  substance,  for  he  was 
compelled  constantly  to  find  a  way  to  go  ahead  according  to  con- 
ditions as  he  found  them,  which  he  did  by  accepting  all  willing 
blacks  into  the   military  service. 

Of  the  cabinet  meeting  of  July  21,  Mr.  Chase  wrote  in  his 
diary: 

The  Secretary  of  War  presented  some  letters  from  General  Hunter  ad- 
vising the  Department  that  the  withdrawal  of  a  large  portion  of  his  troops 
to  reinforce  General  McClellan  rendered  it  highly  important  that  he  should 
be  immediately  authorized  to  enlist  all  loyal  persons  without  reference  to 
complexion.    The  President  expressed  himself  adverse  to  arming  negroes. 

At  the  session  next  day  Stanton  made  an  almost  irresistible 
effort  in  favor  of  a  decisive  blow  to  slavery  as  an  all-important 
war  measure,  contending  for  three  hours  against  Lincoln  and  the 
entire  cabinet.  Some  fragmentary  notes  of  this  "acrimonious  ses- 
sion," made  in  ink  on  the  spot  by  himself,  state  that  he  advocated 
"immediate  emancipation,"  that  Seward  was  opposed  because  such 
a  step  would  "break  up  our  relations  with  foreign  nations  and  the 
production  of  cotton  for  sixty  years,"  and  that  Chase  was  opposed 
because  he  feared  it  would  "lead  to  universal  emancipation." 

Nevertheless  Stanton  made  every  possible  use  of  slaves  in  the 


*William  Whiting,  solicitor  of  the  War  Department  and  the  greatest 
authority  in  the  United  States  on  martial  and  military  law,  says  in  "War 
Powers  Under  the  Constitution,"  that  Lincoln  was  wholly  wrong  in  his  at- 
titude on  this  subject. 


186  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

army.  At  first  the  difficulty  of  paying  them  was  great,  as  the  enlist- 
ment of  blacks,  bond  or  free,  in  the  regular  army  or  even  State 
militia,  was  prohibited  by  the  act  of  May  8,  1792,  and  by  the  army 
regulations  of  1816.  In  the  case  of  General  B.  F,  Butler,  however, 
the  adverse  rulings  of  the  Treasury  were  circumvented.     He  says : 

After  Mr.  Stanton  became  secretary  of  war  I  was  always  fully,  though 
sometimes  surreptitiously  sustained  in  my  efforts  to  utilize  the  black  man  in 
the  army,  but  the  President  was  hostile.  I  had  written  urgently  from  New 
Orleans  for  reinforcements,  saying  that  I  should  have  to  call  on  Africa  for 
aid  if  I  could  not  get  it  from  Washington.  My  correspondence  with  Lin- 
coln was  not  answered,  but  Secretary  Stanton  replied  by  filling  a  requisition 
for  5,000  arms  and  as  many  sets  of  equipment  and  clothing,  with  no  restric- 
tions, as  there  had  been  previously,  that  they  were  to  be  used  for  zvbite  sol- 
diers only.     Of  course  I  understood  that  and  acted  accordingly. 

My  black  regiments  were  mustered  regularly  and  entered  active  service 
the  last  of  August,  1862.  Perhaps  I  should  add  that  before  leaving  for  New 
Orleans,  I  talked  with  the  President  about  the  blacks.  He  said  he  was  not 
prepared  to  discuss  a  negro  policy.  I  then  went  to  Mr.  Stanton.  His  an- 
swer was  prompt.  He  told  me  to  hold,  equip,  employ,  or  arm  all  the  negroes 
who  came  to  me,  if  it  should  be  all  in  my  Department.  I  was  about  to  do 
so  openly  when  the  news  of  Lincoln's  voidance  of  Hunter's  proclamation 
arrived.     I  have  explained  how  I  managed  after  that. 

In  August,  General  Rufus  Saxton  succeeded  General  Hunter  in 
control  of  freedmen,  abandoned  lands,  and  the  organization  of 
colored  troops  in  the  Department  of  the  South  and  received  instruc- 
tions from  Stanton,  under  date  of  August  25,  1862,  granting 
authority  to  employ  (1)  not  to  exceed  fifty  thousand  laborers  at 
five  dollars  per  month  for  common  and  eight  dollars  for  skilled  (2) 
with  clothing  and  subsistence ;  (3)  to  "enlist,  enroll,  arm,  equip, 
and  drill  for  military  service  for  the  purpose  of  guarding  plantations 
and  settlements  occupied  by  the  United  States  from  invasion  and 
to  protect  the  inhabitants  thereof  from  captivity  and  murder  by  the 
enemy,"  not  exceeding  five  thousand  volunteers  of  African  descent 
(4)  "to  be  entitled  to  receive  the  same  pay  and  rations  as  are 
allowed  by  law  to  volunteers  in  the  service."    And  further: 

(5)  The  population  of  African  descent  that  cultivate  the  lands  and 
perform  the  labor  of  the  rebels  constitute  a  large  portion  of  their  military 
strength,  and  enable  the  white  masters  to  fill  the  rebel  armies  and  make 
a  cruel  and  murderous  war  against  the  people  of  the  Northern  States.  By 
reducing  the  strength  of  the  rebels,  their  military  power  will  be  reduced. 
You  are  therefore  authorized  by  every  means  in  your  power  to  withdraw 
from  the  enemy  their  labor  force  and  population,  and  to  spare  no  efforts, 


SLAVES— STANTON  THE  REAL  EMANCIPATOR  187 

consistent  with  civilized  warfare,  to  weaken,  harass,  and  annoy  them,  and 
to  establish  the  authority  of  the  United  States  within  your  Department; 

(7)  By  recent  act  of  Congress  [July  17,  1862]  all  men  and  boys  re- 
ceived into  the  service  of  the  United  States,  who  may  have  been  the  slaves 
of  rebel  masters,  are,  with  their  wives,  mothers,  and  children,  declared  to 
be  forever  free.     You  and  your  command  will  so  treat  and  regard  them. 

Lincoln  continued  to  resist  "for  reasons  that  will  probably 
never  be  written,"  Stanton  says  in  his  letter  of  September  16,  1866, 
to  J.  M.  Ashley,  the  pressure  and  tendency  toward  manumission. 
Nine  days  before  he  finally  yielded  and  signed  the  so-called  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation,  he  said  in  answer  to  a  Chicago  delegation 
which  came  to  advocate  a  decisive  blow  at  slavery :  "What  good 
would  a  proclamation  from  me  do?  I  do  not  want  to  issue  a  docu- 
ment that  the  whole  world  will  see  must  be  inoperative,  like  the 
Pope's  bull  against  the  comet." 

But  he  was,  as  Secretary  Welles  says,  finally  compelled  to 
succumb,  and  on  September  22,  1862,  signed  a  proclamation  pro- 
posing to  emancipate  all  slaves  (not  forever  abolish  slavery  as  a 
right*)  in  certain  rebellious  sections  on  the  following  first  of 
January ;  and,  if  agreeable,  to  pvirchase  or  pay  for  freeing  slaves  in 
the  loyal  States  and  sections. 

The  second  proclamation,  that  of  January  1,  1863,  which 
formally  freed  slaves  that  were  already  practically  free  by  the 
operations  of  war,  was  equally  partial.  It  did  not  touch  the  general 
fabric  of  slavery  nor  even  cover  all  the  States  in  open  rebellion. 

Secretary  Seward  says  that  the  matter  of  emancipation  "had 
been  discussed  for  months  before  the  proclamation  was  issued,"  the 
debates  "being  earnest  and  acrimonious,"  and  that  Lincoln  was 
"opposed  to  it."  At  a  meeting  in  Philadelphia  on  October  31,  1868, 
Stanton  replied  to  the  attacks  made  on  his  "war  policy"  by  Horatio 
Seymour,  then  running  for  the  presidency,  saying  among  other 
things : 

Now  what  was  the  policy  of  the  Secretary  of  War?  It  was  to  pursue 
the  enemy  to  the  last  extremity;  to  smite  him  wherever  he  was  to  be  found. 


♦"Although  not  popularly  so  understood,  the  proclamation  of  Septem- 
b«r  22,  1862,  was  not  an  emancipatory  document.  It  promulgated,  with 
executive  sanction,  sections  9  and  10  of  the  confiscation  act  of  July  17,  1862, 
which  I  believe  were  written  by  Secretary  Stanton,  and  which,  being  of- 
ficially proclaimed  by  him  within  five  days  of  their  enactnient,  were  already- 
operative,"  says  Adjutant-General  Townsend, 


188  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

By  day  and  by  night  it  was  to  carry  forward  the  flag  of  the  United  States 
and  to  trample  under  foot  the  flag  of  the  rebels.  It  was  to  stand  by  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  to  the  last,  by  day  and  by  night  to  be  at  his  side,  to  uphold 
his  arms,  to  encourage  him  in  his  efforts  towards  liberty,  to  strengthen  him 
and  support  him  in  his  hostility  to  the  enemy,  and,  above  all,  to  convince  him 
that  upon  the  rock  of  emancipation  we  must  build  our  safety. 

What  did  he  mean  when  he  said  that  his  policy  was,  "above  all, 
to  convince  him  [Lincoln]  that  upon  the  rock  of  emancipation  we 
must  build  our  safety"?  If  Lincoln  was  not  opposed  to  emancipa- 
tion, why  was  it  "above  all"  necessary  to  "convince  him"  in  its 
favor? 

General  Thomas  M.  Vincent,  U.  S.  A.,  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
who  was  assistant  adjutant-general  during  the  war  and  very  close 
to  both  Stanton  and  Lincoln,  says:  "Lincoln  resisted  military 
interference  with  slaves  for  months  and  I  do  not  believe  there  would 
have  been  any  decisive  action  on  emancipation  except  for  Mr.  Stan- 
ton. He  created  the  administration  policy  in  reference  to  slaves 
and  slavery.    We  all  understood  that." 

"Mr.  Stanton's  impatience  with  the  slowness  of  President  Lin- 
coln to  proclaim  emancipation  was  great,"  says  Charles  A.  Dana, 
"and  was  expressed  more  freely  to  the  President  than  to  anybody 
else.  When  the  proclamation  finally  came,  his  delight  and  his 
gratitude  to  God  were  unbounded.  Now,  at  last,  he  felt  that  no 
blunder  and  no  disaster  could  avert  the  ultimate  triumph  of  our 
arms." 

In  January,  1863,  he  appointed  a  Freedmen's  Inquiry  Commis- 
sion, composed  of  Robert  Dale  Owen  of  Indiana,  James  McKay  of 
New  York,  and  Samuel  G.  Howe  of  Boston,  to  investigate  and 
report  upon  the  colored  population  and  "how  they  can  be  most  use- 
fully employed  in  the  service  of  the  Government  for  the  suppression 
of  the  Rebellion." 

In  May  of  that  year  he  established  a  separate  bureau  in  the 
War  Department  to  have  charge  of  colored  volunteers  and  sent 
Adjutant-General  Thomas  through  the  South  to  promote  colored 
enlistments  and  discipline  oflticers*  who  opposed  the  policy  of 
employing  African  soldiers,  and  was  the  father  of  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau. 


*He  himself  ordered  Grant  to  telegraph  to  General  Sherman  to  "fur- 
nish facilities  to  organize  colored  troops.  He  [Sherman]  appears  indiffer- 
ent if  not  hostile." 


John  A.  Bingham,  M.  C. 


Gen.  J.  K.  Moorhead,  M.  C. 


SLAVES— STANTON  THE  REAL  EMANCIPATOR  189 

"From  the  moment  Mr.  Stanton  became  secretary  of  war," 
says  General  E.  D.  Townsend,  "he  never  relaxed  his  efforts  to 
destroy  slavery  in  the  rebellious  territory  as  the  surest  and  cheapest, 
if  not  the  only,  salvation  of  the  Union,  and  to  win  Mr.  Lincoln 
over  to  that  w^ay  of  thinking." 

In  his  first  formal  report  to  Congress  Stanton  declared: 

Above  all  things  it  is  our  duty  to  disdain  no  legitimate  aid  that  may 
save  the  lives  of  our  gallant  soldiers,  diminish  their  labors,  provide  for  their 
wants,  and  lessen  the  burdens  of  our  people.  So  far  from  the  Southern 
States  being  invincible,  no  enemy  was  ever  more  vulnerable  if  the  means 
at  hand  be  employed  against  them.  The  power  of  the  rebels  rests  upon 
their  peculiar  system  of  labor  which  keeps  laborers  upon  their  plantations 
to  support  the  ones  who  are  devoting  their  time  and  strength  to  destroy 
our  armies  and  our  Government.  It  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  duty  of  those 
conducting  the  war  to  strike  down  the  system  and  turn  against  the  rebels 
the  productive  power  that  upholds  the  insurrection. 

In  his  official  report  for  1863  he  said : 

The  colored  troops  have  been  allowed  no  bounty,  and  under  the  con- 
struction given  by  the  Department  they  can  only,  by  existing  law,  receive 
the  pay  of  $10  per  month;  white  soldiers  being  paid  $13  per  month  with 
clothing  and  a  daily  ration.  There  seems  to  be  an  inequality  and  injustice  in 
this  distinction,  and  an  amendment  authorizing  the  same  pay  and  bounty 
as  white  troops  receive  is  recommended.  As  soldiers  of  the  Union,  fighting 
under  its  banner  and  exposing  their  lives  in  battle  to  uphold  the  Govern- 
ment, colored  troops  are  entitled  to  enjoy  its  justice  and  beneficence. 

"Stanton  w^as  the  great  emancipator,"  says  Major  A,  E.  H. 
Johnson.  "He  did  infinitely  more  for  the  freedom  of  the  black  man 
than  the  President  and  all  others  combined.  He  did  more  to  make 
him  a  full  soldier  in  the  army  than  any  other  person  in  the  nation, 
and  he  used  the  power  of  war  to  put  the  negro  where  he  could 
help  to  save  the  Republic.  Dr.  Alexander  T.  Augusta,  a  skilful 
negro  physician  of  Washington,  showed  his  gratitude  for  this  jus- 
tice and  courage  in  behalf  of  his  race  by  bequeathing  five  hundred 
dollars  to  Mr.  Stanton."* 

The  hand  of  the  martyr  Lincoln  did  indeed  at  last  formally 
sign  a  partial  emancipation,  but  the  far-seeing  brain  of  Stanton, 
much  in  advance  of  that  document,  found  a  way  to  enlist  nearly 

*Dr.  Augusta  was  appointed  by  Stanton  to  be  a  surgeon  in  the  army 
in  1863,  the  first  colored  man  given  such  an  appointment.  He  served  till 
1867  and  was  made  brevet-colonel  for  meritorious  service. 


190  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

two  hundred  thousand  slaves  in  the  army ;  instigated  the  Confisca- 
tion Act  of  July  17,  1862;  and  finally  urged  through  the  Trumbull 
Amendment  of  the  constitution,  which  must  forever  stand  as  the 
real  death-blow  to  human  bondage  as  a  legal  right. 

That  amendment  passed  the  Senate  on  April  8,  1864,  and  the 
House  on  January  31,  1865,  When  the  vote  was  concluded  at  4 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  Congressman  J.  M.  Ashley  (of  Ohio),  who 
carried  the  laboring  oar  in  the  House  contest,  jumped  into  a  car- 
riage and  drove  rapidly  to  the  War  Office  with  a  list  of  those  who 
had  voted  "aye." 

Stanton  had  already  received  the  news  by  telegraph  and  had 
ordered  three  batteries  of  artillery  to  "fire  one  hundred  guns  with 
their  heaviest  charges"  in  the  heart  of  the  city.  Between  the  thun- 
dering reverberations  of  this  salute,  which  shook  every  house  in 
the  national  capital,  Stanton  read  aloud  the  names  of  those  who 
supported  the  amendment,  saying:  "History  will  embalm  them  ir. 
great  honor." 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 
McCLELLAN  RELIEVED— STANTON  VINDICATED. 

Rehabilitating  McClellan  and  placing  him  in  charge  of  the  de- 
fense of  Washington  on  September  2,  1862,  produced  surprising 
results.  He  gathered  up  the  inpouring  streams  of  stragglers  and,  in 
a  wonderfully  short  time,  manned  the  forts  and  entrenchments,  or- 
ganized and  disposed  the  forces,  and  brought  order  out  of  chaos ; 
but  he  did  not,  as  many  have  claimed,  save  Washington. 

Lee  "saved  Washington."  The  capital  was  lost  for  not  less 
than  five  days  after  and  including  August  30,  if  Lee  had  known  it. 
Its  capture  would  have  been  a  mere  holiday  excursion,  but  Lee  was 
unaware  of  the  real  situation,  and,  feeling  the  severity  of  the  pun- 
ishment he  had  received  from  Pope,  retired  on  September  3  to  re- 
plenish his  exhausted  stores  of  ammunition  and  food.  Having  re- 
victualed  his  command,  he  inaugurated  a  march  into  Maryland  to- 
wards Pennsylvania.  McClellan,  without  direct  orders  to  do  so, 
suddenly  marched  away  to  intercept  him. 

Before  engaging  Lee  at  Antietam,  however,  he  resumed  his 
demand  for  the  troops  which  had  been  retained  for  the  defense  of 
the  capital,  making  this  very  extraordinary  statement :  "Even  if 
Washington  should  be  taken  while  these  armies  are  confronting 
each  other,  this  would  not,  in  my  judgment,  bear  comparison  with 
the  ruin  and  disaster  which  would  follow  a  single  defeat  of  this 
army.  //  we  should  be  successful  in  conquering  the  gigantic  rebel 
army  before  us,  we  would  have  no  difficulty  in  recovering  Wash- 
ington." 

"I  have  often  heard  Mr.  Stanton  speak  of  the  singular  conduct 
and  expressions  of  McClellan  as  to  the  safety  of  Washington,"  says 
Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson.  "McClellan  seemed  to  wish  to  put  the 
capital  in  a  condition  that  would  compel  the  flight  of  the  whole 
'crew,'  as  he  called  the  cabinet  and  the  President." 

Lincoln  and  his  cabinet  in  flight  or  captivity  would  create  a 
situation,  McClellan  believed,  which  would  justify  him  in  assuming 


192  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON' 

the  dictatorship ;  and  that,  according  to  his  correspondence,  is  what 
he  seems  to  have  been  seeking. 

If  Washington  had  been  captured  in  September,  1862,  Jefferson 
Davis  and  his  "government  at  Richmond"  could  have  been  its 
occupants  within  twenty-four  hours ;  England  and  France*  and 
probably  other  countries  would  have  joined  in  recognition  of  the 
Confederacy;  an  army  from  the  four  hundred  thousand  Knights  of 
the  Golden  Circle  and  their  sympathizers,  who  had  kept  the  North 
divided  between  loyalty  and  disloyalty,  would  have  rushed  on  with 
their  enthusiastic  aid  and  the  Union  as  it  is  might  have  perished 
from  the  earth ! 

McClellan  met  the  enemy  on  the  14th,  15th,  and  16th  of  Sep- 
tember at  South  Mountain  and  Antietam  (Maryland)  and  was  not 
whipped.  Lincoln  telegraphed  to  him  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
15th :  "God  bless  you  and  all  with  you !  Destroy  the  rebel  army 
if  you  can !" 

Although,  in  the  meantime,  the  Confederates  had  taken  Har- 
per's Ferry,  Lee's  army,  barefooted,  foodless,  and  expecting  pur- 
suit, could  have  been  wiped  out,  and  McClellan  was  repeatedly 
ordered  to  pursue  and  crush  it,  but  did  not  obey.  Fitz-John  Porter 
was  standing  by  with  thirty-five  thousand  veterans,  in  full  ammuni- 
tion, and,  although  he  could  have  fallen  upon  Lee  with  deadly 
effect,  he  was  not  ordered  and  did  not  volunteer  to  fire  a  gun ;  and 
thus  a  day  that  should  have  scored  an  overwhelming  victory,  closed 
upon  what  was  relatively  a  fiasco — notwithstanding  the  important 
fact  that  Lee's  advance  into  the  North  had  been  effectually  checked. 

The  telegrams  from  Washington  ordering  McClellan  to  pro- 
ceed, to  move,  became  frequent  and  mandatory.  He  parried  them 
with  a  formal  complaint  that  he  had  not  horses  enough  and  had 
been  receiving  them  at  the  rate  of  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  per 
week.  Stanton  ordered  an  official  report  which  showed  that  during 
the  previous  six  weeks  over  one  million,  two  hvindred  thousand  dol- 
lars had  been  expended  for  horses  for  McClellan's  command  alone, 
and  that  McClellan's  officers  had  been  receipting  for  an  average  de- 


*In  September,  1862,  the  French  Emperor  Napoleon,  through  Drouyn  de 
I'Huys  was  pressing  England  and  Russia  to  join  in  securing  the  independence 
of  the  South.  During  that  month  Lord  Russell  of  England  wrote  officially: 
"The  time  has  come  to  offer  mediation  to  the  United  States  with  a  view  to 
the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  Confederates.  In  case  of  failure  we  ought 
ourselves  to  recognise  the  Southern  States  as  an  independent  Statel" 


McCLELLAN  RELIEVED— STANTON  VINDICATED  193 

livery  of  one  thousand,  four  hundred  and  fifty-nine  horses  per  week, 
besides  many  mules  and  "restitution"  animals!  One  by  one  his  ex- 
cuses for  refusing  to  advance  were  exploded  by  official  records, 
which  Stanton  was  careful  to  lay  before  Lincoln,  though  without 
comment  or  recommendation. 

McClellan  now  announced  that  he  would  occupy  Maryland 
Heights,  "watch  the  enemy  closely"  and  get  ready  for  winter, 
though  winter  was  yet  a  long  distance  away.  Lincoln  was  in 
despair  and  appealed  to  Stanton.  "He  is  in  your  hands,"  was  the 
significant  reply.  In  the  meantime  the  Emancipation  Proclamation 
(so-called)  had  been  issued,  concerning  which  McClellan  wrote 
to  his  wife  on  September  25:  "The  President's  late  proclamation 
and  the  continuation  of  Stanton  and  Halleck  in  office  render  it 
almost  impossible  for  me  to  retain  my  commission  and  my  self- 
respect  at  the  same  time." 

Colonel  Albert  V.  Colburn,  a  member  of  his  staflf,  states  that 
when  McClellan  saw  the  proclamation  in  the  Baltimore  Sun  he 
hurled  the  paper  into  the  corner,  exclaiming:  "There!  Look  at 
that  outrage  !  I  shall  resign  to-morrow  !"  He  made  the  same  threat 
to  several  others,  who  repeated  it  to  Stanton.  He  did  not  resign, 
however,  but  on  October  5,  wrote  to  his  wife :  "Mr.  Aspinwall  is 
decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  my  duty  to  submit  to  the  Presi- 
dent's proclamation.  I  presume  he  is  right.  I  shall  surely  give 
his  views  full  consideration." 

It  was  his  duty  to  promulgate  the  proclamation  the  moment  it 
came,  with  the  "orders  of  the  day";  yet,  when  he  wrote  mentioning 
Mr.  Aspinwall's  advice,  he  had  disobediently  suppressed  it  for 
more  than  a  week  and  continued  to  suppress  it  from  the  army  until 
October  7.  He  then  issued  it  with  a  curious  dissertation  on  poli- 
tics which  ended :  "The  remedy  for  political  errors,  if  any  are 
committed,  is  to  be  found  only  in  the  action  of  the  people  at  the 
polls."  He  had  decided,  fortunately,  after  long  consultation  and 
reflection,  not  to  use  his  army  to  "remedy"  what  he  regarded  as 
the  "political  error"  of  the  administration  in  issuing  the  Emanci- 
pation Proclamation. 

In  the  meantime,  Lee,  chuckling  at  his  easy  escape  out  of 
Maryland — for  he  expected  McClellan  to  pursue  him — had  crossed 
the  mountains  and  formed  a  junction  with  Longstreet  near  Cul- 
pepper, Virginia,  and  was  once  more  entrenched  between  Rich- 
mond and  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  thus  enabled  to  perform  the 


194  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

double  duty  of  covering  Richmond  and  menacing  Washington  with 
the  same  guns.  Stanton  communicated  this  information  to  Lin- 
coln with  the  query:     "Mr.  President,  what  do  you  think  now?" 

"As  you  do,"  responded  Lincoln,  writing  a  memorandum  order, 
dated  November  5,  1862,  relieving  McClellan  from  the  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  appointing  Burnside  as  his  suc- 
cessor, which  was  supplemented  by  an  order  of  even  date,  directing 
McClellan  to  report  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey  (his  home),  to  "take 
command  of  his  chickens  and  cabbages,"  the  newspapers 
explained.*  That  ended  his  active  connection  with  the  army, 
although  he  did  not  make  his  report  until  August,  1863,  and  did 
not  resign  his  commission  until  November,  1864 — after  his  defeat 
at  the  polls  for  the  presidency.  Immediately  following  the  dis- 
missal, his  partisans  sent  subscription  papers  for  circulation  in  his 
behalf  through  the  army.  Stanton,  declaring  that  the  performance 
was  an  "insult  to  the  President,"  ordered  it  stopped. 

In  response  to  an  inquiry  of  November  11,  1862,  from  the  pre- 
ceptor of  his  childhood,  the  Reverend  Heman  Dyer,  for  an  explana- 
tion of  McClellan's  removal,  Stanton  wrote  among  other  things: 

When  General  McClellan  failed  to  obey  the  order  of  the  President  to 
move  against  the  enemy,  given  on  the  6th  of  October,  I  thought  he  ought 
to  be  removed  on  the  spot.  Nearly  a  month,  time  enough  to  have  made  a 
victorious  campaign,  was  lost  by  his  disobedience  of  orders.  When  his 
creatures  and  those  who  are  enemies  of  the  country  undertook  to  apolo- 
gize for  the  delay  by  the  false  pretense  that  they  needed  supplies  that  were 
withheld  from  them  by  the  War  Department,  my  duty  to  the  country  re- 
quired the  exposure  of  the  falsehood  and  I  demanded  a  report  from  the 
General-in-Chief. 

It  is  not  my  fault  that  he  was  not  removed  before  the  New  York  elec- 
tion, after  his  disobedience  of  orders.  The  loss  of  three  weeks'  time  rests 
not  upon  my  shoulders. 

In  respect  to  any  combination  between  Mr.   Chase,   Mr.   Seward,t  and 


♦General  Herman  Haupt  says:  "I  ate  supper  with  McClellan  at  Rector- 
town,  Virginia,  late  on  the  evening  of  the  night  he  was  superseded  by  Burn- 
side.  I  was  present  when  the  messengers  arrived  with  the  order  and  went 
with  them  over  to  Burnside's  headquarters.  McClellan  did  not  expect  the 
blow,  having  spent  some  time  that  evening  explaining  to  me  what  he 
intended  to  do." 


fNo  influence  in  favor  of  retaining  McClellan  was  so  strong  and  eflfec- 
tive  with  Lincoln  as  Seward's.  Seward  and  McClellan  were  close  friends, 
the  former  always  referring  to  the  latter  affectionately  as  "George." 


Gen.  R.)|;i;ki    K.   I.f.f., 


McCLELLAN  RELIEVED— STANTON  VINDICATED  195 

myself  against  General  McClellan,  it  is  utterly  false,  for  reasons  needless  to 
mention.  Fire  and  water  would  as  soon  combine.  Each  does  his  duty  as 
he  deems  right. 

In  respect  to  the  imputation  of  selfish  or  ambitious  motives,  denial  is 
useless.  Those  who  make  it  do  so  in  ignorance  of  my  principles  of  action, 
or  with  prejudiced  feeling,  and  like  all  other  public  men,  I  must  expect  and 
patiently  bear  misconstruction  and  false  report. 

Turning  neither  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left,  serving  no  man  and 
at  enmity  with  none,  I  shall  strive  to  perform  my  whole  duty  to  this  great 
work  before  us.  Mistakes  and  faults  I  no  doubt  may  commit,  but  the  pur- 
pose of  my  action  shall  be  single  to  the  public  good. 

In  his  "Own  Story"  McClellan  says  that  his  removal  created 
such  a  "deep  feeling  in  the  army"  that  "many  were  in  favor  of  his 
refusing  to  obey  the  order  and  marching  upon  Washington  and 
taking  possession  of  the  Government" — just  what  Jefferson  Davis 
tried  for  four  years  to  do,  at  a  cost,  on  both  sides,  of  over  five  hun- 
dred thousands  of  lives  and  several  billions  of  treasure. 

In  discussing  McClellan's  unfortunate  contest  with  Stanton 
and  humiliating  retirement,  General  M.  C.  Meigs,  who  knew  him 
intimately,  says : 

When  McClellan  was  promoted,  I  went  to  him,  for  I  was  his  friend — 
his  close  friend — and  said:  "General,  you  are  now  in  the  way  to  occupy  the 
place  occupied  by  Washington.  You  are  to  be  commander  of  all  the  armies 
and  finally  president.  It  is  the  greatest  opportunity  in  the  world  at  this 
time — one  of  the  greatest  of  any  time." 

But,  poor  fellow,  he  swelled  up,  outgrew  advice,  became  pompous,  and 
wanted  to  be  surrounded  by  courtiers,  aides,  and  retinues.  He  seemed  to 
have  forgotten  all  about  fighting  in  his  overweening  determination  to  re- 
main at  Washington  and  direct  in  grandeur.  He  commanded  from  the  rear 
instead  of  the  front,  and  so,  of  course,  failed — fell  into  irretrievable  dis- 
aster. Grant  would  have  failed  too,  if  he  had  adopted  the  same  tactics — 
failed  ignominiously. 

When  McClellan  did  leave  Washington  it  was  because  Stanton  literally 
kicked  him  out  of  town.  This  weakness  for  vain  display  and  hanging  around 
Washington  to  dine  and  be  petted  by  society,  is  the  beginning  of  the  con- 
duct which  led  to  his  suspension  from  the  position  of  general-in-chief  and 
finally  from  any  command  in  the  army. 

Besides  the  weakness  mentioned,  he  was  always  afraid  that  if  he  should 
actually  get  into  a  fight  some  of  his  men,  if  not  himself,  might  get  hurt. 
Grant  had  absolutely  no  fear  of  death  for  himself  or  his  men.  He  hesi- 
tated to  do  nothing  needful  even  when  certain  that  great  slaughter  was  in- 
evitable. Like  Stanton,  his  single  purpose  was  to  vanquish  the  enemy,  tear 
the  Rebellion  to  tatters,  and  he  well  knew,  as  did  Stanton,  that,  especially 
when  opposed  by  a  splendid  foe  like  ours,  it  could  not  be  done  for  nothing. 


196  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

On  this  point,  too,  McCIellan  failed.  He  had  no  clear  comprehension  of 
the  real  essence  of  war.  Military  men  were  astonished  that  he  was  not 
superseded  sooner,  and  foreign  critics  that  he  was  not  court-martialed. 

General  U.  S.  Grant  relates : 

Having  been  at  West  Point  and  seen  some  service  in  Mexico,  I  borrowed 
money  early  in  1861  to  go  to  Cincinnati,  where  General  McCIellan  was  in 
charge,  to  offer  my  services.  I  had  known  him  in  Mexico  and  went  im- 
mediately to  headquarters  and  was  announced.  Not  being  permitted  to 
see  him  that  day,  I  returned  early  in  the  morning,  ahead  of  all  other  callers, 
and  waited  until  night.  He  did  not  see  me,  nor  fix  a  time  for  an  interview, 
so  I  returned  to  Illinois.  No  harm  was  done;  but  when  General  McCIellan 
attempted  to  subject  Mr.  Lincoln  and  especially  Secretary  Stanton  to  the 
same  kind  of  treatment,  the  result  was  serious. 

Major  A,  E.  H.  Johnson  says  Stanton  "never  spoke  harshly  of 
McCIellan,"  never  went  further  than  to  declare  that  he  was  "in- 
capable of  leading  a  fighting  army  and  should  be  suspended  for  the 
safety  of  the  Union;  never  questioned  his  motives  or  discussed  his 
objects." 

No  sane  man  takes  a  step  without  "motives."  In  his  "Own 
Story"  McCIellan  says :  "Taking  both  East  and  West  and  count- 
ing losses  also  by  disease,  I  do  not  doubt  that  more  than  half  a 
million  of  men*  were  sacrificed  unnecessarily  for  the  sake  of  insur- 
ing the  success  of  a  political  party."  Thus  he  terms  the  triumph 
of  the  Union  arms  the  "success  of  a  political  party !" 

As  he  did  not  belong  to  that  party,  he  must  have  desired  its 
defeat — which  meant  the  defeat  of  the  Union.  At  any  rate,  he 
admits  his  own  defeat,  where,  on  page  35  of  his  "Own  Story," 
he  says: 

Many  of  the  Democratic  leaders  did  me  great  harm  by  using  my  name 
for  party  purposes  without  my  knowledge  or  consent;  and  without  intend- 
ing it,  probably  did  more  than  my  armed  enemies  in  the  way  of  ruining  my 
military  career. 


*Adjutant-General  R.  C  Drum  gives  the  total  losses  in  battle  and  pris- 
on, and  from  murder,  drowning,  suicide,  accident,  and  unknown  causes  in 
the  Union  army  from  April  15,  1861  to  December  20,  1867 — at  359,528!  Mc- 
CIellan was  not  referring  to  the  entire  war  period  when  he  put  the  "un- 
necessary" political  sacrifices  at  "more  than  half  a  million,"  but  to  that 
portion  following  Stanton's  advent,  in  1862.  Thus,  the  misstatement  be- 
comes so  great  that  the  world  must  be  astonished  that  even  McCIellan 
dared  to  use  it! 


McCLELLAN  RELIEVED— STANTON  VINDICATED  197 

Thus  he  admits,  first,  that  his  "military  career"  was  "ruined" ; 
second,  that,  since  the  "Democratic  leaders"  did,  Stanton  did  not 
ruin  it ! 

If  ]\IcCleIlan  had  followed  the  advice  given  by  Stanton  in  the 
Barlow  letter  of  November,  1861,  which  was  to  "mind  his  own 
Department  and  win  a  victory" — "keep  out  of  politics"* — he  might 
have  been  elected  president  in  1864 — certainly  in  1868. 

"Capture  Richmond  and  fetch  Jeff  Davis  to  Washington,"  said 
Stanton  to  him  in  February,  1862,  "and  the  Rebellion  will  be 
ended  and  you  will  be  president."  But  he  would  not  do  it,  nor  try 
to  do  it ;  so  Richmond  was  the  last  while  Stanton  insisted  that  it 
should  be  the  first  Confederate  city  to  fall,  and  'McClellan's  "mili- 
tary career"  was  "ruined." 

In  1864  the  righteousness  of  Stanton's  acts  concerning  McClel- 
lan  were  put  upon  trial.  The  so-called  Democratic  national  con- 
vention nominated  McClellan  for  president  on  a  platform  declaring 
the  war  a  failure,  and  appealed  to  the  people  for  a  "vindication." 
The  result  was  an  overwhelming  vindication  for  Stanton,  only 
three  States — Delaware,  New  Jersey,  and  Kentucky — giving  their 
votes  to  "Little  Mac." 


*On  July  27,  1861,  McClellan  wrote  to  his  wife:  "By  some  strange 
operation  of  magic  I  seem  to  have  become  the  center  of  power.  I  receive 
letters  often  alluding  to  the  presidency,  dictatorship,  etc.  /  would  cheerfully 
take  the  dictatorship  and  lay  down  my  life  when  the  country  is  saved!"  To 
assume  command  of  and  run  everything,  to  establish  himself  as  a  dictator, 
became  an  infatuation  which  apparently  never  left  him  till  he  was  dis- 
missed from  the  army.  After  dining  with  McClellan  in  Washington,  Dr. 
Ives,  the  Confederate  spy,  telegraphed  to  the  New  York  Herald:  "If  the 
factious  abolition  leaders  do  not  speedily  draw  in  their  horns  they  may 
find  in  General  McClellan  such  a  Tartar  as  the  Long  Parliament  found  in 
Cromwell  and  the  Council  of  Five  Hundred  in  Napoleon  Bonaparte."  Evi- 
dently he  had  disclosed  to  Dr.  Ives  his  plan  to  imitate  Cromwell  by  seizing 
the  capital  and  driving  out  Congress  with  the  bayonet.  He  put  in  writing 
his  scheme  to  secure  control  of  the  entire  War  Department,  while  Cameron 
was  yet  secretary,  by  preparing  a  memorandum  advocating  the  abolishment 
of  the  adjutant-general  and  the  inspector-general  and  their  Departments  and 
"merging  their  functions  in  those  of  his  general  staff  officers."  He  pre- 
pared an  array  of  seventy  heads  of  Departments  to  be  uiider  his  own  con- 
trol, so  that  no  order  could  be  given  to  any  officer  or  part  of  the  army 
without  his  approval,  thus  doing  away  with  the  president  and  secretary  of 
war  in  military  affairs. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

DISAPPOINTED  IN  MEADE  AT  GETTYSBURG. 

Stanton  was  full  of  aggressive  excitement  over  Lee's  proposed 
invasion  of  the  North  which  ended  in  the  great  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg, in  which,  on  both  sides,  fifty-three  thousand  were  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing.  Apparently,  at  first,  Pittsburg  was  the 
initial  objective.  He  therefore  resolved  to  mass  an  intercepting 
army  near  the  border  of  Pennsylvania;  sent  all  the  field  artillery 
at  Watervliet  (New  York)  Arsenal  to  Pittsburg  by  express,  and 
telegraphed  to  W.  T.  H.  Brooks,  on  June  10,  1863 : 

Intelligence  received  this  morning  of  enemy's  designs  makes  it  certain 
that  you  cannot  be  too  early  or  too  busily  at  work.  Pittsburg  will  be  a 
point  aimed  at  by  Stuart's  raid.  Frankly  inform  the  people  of  Pittsburg 
that  they  must  be  at  work. 

Four  days  later  the  secret  service  reported  that  Philadelphia 
was  to  be  captured  first  and  Stanton  so  informed  Governor  Curtin 
and,  on  June  14,  suggested  that  the  War  Department  would  "offer 
no  objection"  to  calling  out  the  militia  of  Pennsylvania.  Next 
day  he  telegraphed  to  all  the  loyal  governors  explaining  Lee's 
purpose  and  asking  how  many  men  could  be  forwarded  to  Penn- 
sylvania at  once  if  the  President  should  call  for  them.  The  replies 
were  such  that  Lincoln  immediately  issued  his  proclamation  and 
the  near-by  States,  especially  New  York,  began  to  hurry  forward 
their  militia. 

By  June  27  Lee's  exact  route  was  definable — Chambersburg, 
Carlisle,  and  York  to  Philadelphia.  On  that  day  Governor  Curtin 
called  out  the  militia  and  Stanton  telegraphed  that  all  the  men 
enlisting  under  the  call  would  be  armed  and  equipped  at  Federal 
expense  on  the  requisition  of  General  Couch,  who  had  been  sent 
to  Harrisburg. 

The  strength  of  Lee's  army  is  a  matter  yet  in  dispute,  but 
General  Herman  Haupt,  director  of  Military  Railways,  and  Thomas 


DISAPPOINTED  IN  MEADE  AT  GETTYSBURG  199 

A.  Scott  of  the  Pennsylvania  railway  made  a  careful  count  at 
Chambersburg  and  found  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  pieces  of 
artillery  and  ninety-two  thousand  men — all  veterans  and  as  high 
grade  fighters  as  the  world  ever  produced. 

Stanton  had  gathered  perhaps  a  greater  army  near  Gettysburg, 
but  many  were  raw  recruits.  Lee's  troops,  although  veterans,  were 
weary,  scantily  supplied  with  provisions,  and  not  overstocked  with 
ammunition,  while  the  Federals  were  generally  fresh  and  pro- 
vided with  everything  that  an  omnipotent  war  minister  and  an 
opulent  Government  could  supply. 

General  Hooker  had  been  in  command  but,  on  the  27th,  Stan- 
ton relieved  him  and  appointed  General  George  G.  Meade  in  his 
stead.  His  reasons  for  this  sudden  change  are  not  recorded;  but 
Meade  was  a  Pennsylvanian  and,  fighting  in  and  for  his  native 
State,  would  call  out  its  forces  and  enthusiasm.  Besides,  Stanton 
had  become  much  dissatisfied  with  Hooker  for  permitting  his  camp 
to  swarm  with  newspaper  reporters  and  women,*  and  exasperated 
with  him  for  making  no  decisive  move  to  intercept  Lee's  raid  into 
Pennsylvania. 

General  Haupt,  after  several  interviews  with  him  at  Fairfax, 
learned  that  Hooker  did  not  intend  to  oppose  Lee's  Northern  inva- 
sion nor  make  any  other  move  "without  orders."  Haupt  hastened 
to  Washington  to  disclose  that  fact  to  Stanton  and  General-in- 
Chief  Halleck,  and  was  informed,  after  reporting  the  situation,  that 
Hooker  would  be  superseded. f 

Having  appointed  a  new  commander,  massed  all  the  troops 
he  could  get,  and  poured  unlimited  quantities  of  munitions  and 
stores  into  southeastern  Pennsylvania,  Stanton,  on  the  29th,  issued 
his  usual  "extraordinary  discretion"  to  those  in  charge.  General 
Haupt  was  authorized  to  do  anything  he  pleased ;  General  Dana 


*The  following  is  an  official  telegram  of  June  6,  1863,  from  Stanton  to 
Hooker:  "I  have  been  trying  to  keep  the  women  out  of  your  camp,  but,  find- 
ing that  they  were  going  in  troops  under  passes,  as  they  said,  from  your 
provost  marshal  and  commanders,  I  have  given  up  the  job." 


t"At  my  interview  with  General  Halleck,"  says  General  Haupt,  "I  was 
shown  correspondence  in  which  Hooker  proposed  to  let  Lee  go  unmolested 
into  the  North,  while  he  took  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  South  to  capture 
Richmond.  Both  Stanton  and  Lincoln  were  astonished  at  this  plan,  the  lat- 
ter, I  think,  writing  that  to  exchange  Washington  for  Richmond  would  be 
an  inexcusably  bad  bargain." 


200  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

was  told  to  impress  tugs,  steamers,  or  anything  else,  if  necessary, 
and  remove  and  save  the  plant  and  machinery  of  Jenks  and  Son  at 
Philadelphia,  makers  of  Government  arms ;  President  Garrett,  T.  A. 
Scott,  and  S.  M.  Felton  were  ordered  to  keep  their  railway  lines 
open  and  running  at  any  expense  or  hazard ;  and  Quartermaster- 
General  Meigs  was  instructed  to  "exhaust  the  resources  of  the 
Government"  in  furnishing  whatever  the  army  might  need. 

His  telegram  to  President  Garrett — "I  know  what  you  have 
done,  but  you  must  now  excel  yourself" — is  a  sample  of  his  earnest 
and  headlong  instructions.  Of  General  Couch  at  Harrisburg  he 
inquired:  "Do  you  need  more  staff  officers?"  So  he  went  over 
the  field  and  then,  during  the  ensuing  four  days  and  nights, 
tramped  back  and  forth  among  the  tables  of  his  expert  telegraphers 
in  intense  excitement,  watching  the  progress  of  events  and  sending 
and  answering  telegrams.  He  did  not  leave  the  office  and  had  only 
a  few  moments  of  rest  on  the  old  hair-cloth  lounge  in  his  room. 
All  this  time,  too,  he  was  cheering  and  advising  the  frightened 
governors  of  the  border  States  and  strained  with  anxiety  for  Grant, 
who  was  grimly  hammering  the  tremendous  fortifications  about 
Vicksburg. 

Unquestionably  he  had  expected  not  only  that  Meade  would 
win,  but  that  Lee  would  be  captured  and  his  army  annihilated.  He 
sent  word  privately  by  General  J.  A.  Hardie,  who  bore  the  order 
suspending  Hooker  and  appointing  Meade,  that  "whoever  captures 
Lee  will  be  president,"  and  suggested :  "Tell  Meade  he  can  whip 
Lee  and  starve  him,"  knowing  that  the  insurgents  were  not 
equipped  for  a  long  fight,  and  considering  that  Meade  was  a  Penn- 
sylvanian,  fighting  on  his  native  soil. 

On  the  evening  of  July  3,  after  two  days  of  insurgent  charging 
unexcelled  for  intrepidity  and  persistence,  Lee  was  whipped.  His 
horses  were  without  forage,  his  heavy  ammunition  was  exhausted, 
some  of  his  men  were  without  rations,  his  dead  were  rotting  in  the 
sun,  his  wounded  were  suffering,  his  army  was  demoralized,  and  he 
himself  discouraged. 

Now  was  the  time  for  Meade  to  strike  the  blow  supreme,  to 
fulfil  the  instructions  of  Stanton,  who  was  so  perfectly  sure  that  it 
would  he  done  that  he  could  hardly  restrain  his  exuberance.  But 
next  morning,  while  attending  to  his  wounded  and  burying  his  dead, 
General  Lee  organized  the  main  body  of  his  broken  and  dispirited 
army    for    a    retreat,    and,    with    absolutely    no    interference    from 


Gen.  Lorenzo  Thomas, 
Adjutant-  General. 


Judge  J(jsei'h  Holt, 
Judge  Advocate  General. 


DISAPPOINTED  IN  MEADE  AT  GETTYSBURG  201 

Meade,  withdrew  to  the  Potomac !  At  this  moment  General  Haupt, 
a  class-mate  of  Meade's  at  West  Point,  and  an  engineer  who  knew 
every  foot  of  ground  in  the  vicinity,  appeared  at  headquarters  and 
urged  immediate  pursuit.  Meade  answered  that  his  men  "needed 
rest,"  to  which  Haupt  retorted:  "They  cannot  be  so  tired  as  the 
enemy.  They  are  fresh,  they  have  been  fighting  behind  stone  walls, 
they  are  not  foot-sore,  and  they  have  an  abundance  of  provisions. 
I  will  have  the  rail  and  telegraph  lines  open  in  the  morning  to 
Baltimore,  Washington,  and  elsewhere,  so  there  will  be  no  lack  of 
transportation,  and  you  must  pursue  Lee  and  crush  him.  This  is 
the  critical  moment  of  the  war.  Lee's  men  are  worn  out  and 
hungry;  his  ammunition  and  stores  must  be  exhausted  and  his 
supply  trains  can  be  easily  cut  ofif.  He  is  in  desperate  straits,  like 
a  rat  in  a  trap,  and  you  can  whip  and  capture  him." 

Thus  Haupt  argued  and  pleaded,  but  without  avail.  His  old 
class-mate  was  afraid  to  make  an  offensive  march  against  Lee,  the 
fearful,  bloody  contest  just  closed  having  been  defensive  on  his 
part.  Convinced  that  he  had  measured  the  situation  correctly, 
Haupt  mounted  an  engine  and  rushed  to  Washington  as  fast  as 
steam  could  carry  him  to  confer  with  Secretary  Stanton  and  Gen- 
eral-in-Chief Halleck.  The  former  was  dumbfounded  by  the 
information  brought  to  him  and  requested  Haupt  to  go  with  Hal- 
leck to  Lincoln  while  he  himself  "talked"  with  Meade  by  telegraph. 
What  he  said  to  Meade  was  purposely  left  unrecorded,  but  an  hour 
later  he  walked  rapidly  to  the  White  House,  where  he  found  the 
conference  between  Lincoln,  Halleck,  and  Haupt  about  concluded. 
Lincoln  inquired : 

"What  shall  we  do  with  your  man  Meade,  Mr.  Secretary?" 

"Tell  him,"  said  Stanton  to  Haupt,  "that  Lee  is  trapped  and 
must  be  taken,"  and  then,  turning  to  Lincoln,  added:  "He  can  be 
removed  as  easily  as  he  was  appointed,  if  he  makes  no  proper  effort 
to  end  this  war  noiv,  while  he  has  Lee  in  a  trap." 

After  some  further  talk  Haupt  returned  to  Gettysburg.  What 
he  communicated  to  Meade  is  not  recorded,  but  before  he  arrived, 
Stanton,  Halleck,  and  Lincoln*  had  anticipated  his  message  with 

*Lincoln  telegraphed  to  Meade  that  he  saw  "a  purpose  to  get  the  enemy 
across  the  river  (Potomac]  without  a  further  collision"  instead  of  a  "pur- 
pose to  prevent  his  crossing  and  to  destroy  him."  To  General  Thomas  he 
telegraphed  that  Meade  was  "as  likely  to  catch  the  man  in  the  moon"  as 
the  enemy  "unless  the  army  moved  faster,"  and  to  Simon  Cameron  that 


202  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

some   very   urgent   and    significant   telegrams    for    an    immediate 
advance. 

Colonel  S.  G.  Lynch,  private  secretary  to  the  Superintendent  of 
the  Military  Telegraph,  says  the  most  decisive  of  Stanton's  tele- 
grams to  Meade  and  the  replies  thereto  were  "talked"  over  the 
lines,  "the  Secretary  desiring  to  avoid  making  a  harsh  written 
record  against  his  General."  Their  character  ma}'  be  inferred  from 
this  to  Brigadier-General  Kelly  on  July  4,  sent  some  hours  before 
he  had  been  aroused  by  Haupt's  disclosures : 

I  regret  to  hear  you  talk  about  "some  days"  to  concentrate  when  min- 
utes are  precious.  *  *  *  Rapid  and  vigorous  motion  will  enable 
you  to  inflict  a  heavy  blow  upon  the  enemy.  It  will  be  a  matter  of  deep  re- 
gret, if,  by  tardy  movement,  you  let  the  chance  escape.  There  must  be  no 
rest  night  or  day. 

His  disappointment  was  inexpressible.  He  had  exhausted  the 
loyal  States  and  the  Government  to  give  Meade  every  item  of 
support  that  possibly  could  be  needed.  He  expected  the  instru- 
mentalities thus  provided  would  be  used  to  the  utmost,  knowing 
that  if  they  were  so  employed  Lee  could  not  get  away  and  the 
Rebellion  would  be  permanently  crippled.  He  declared  that  "since 
the  world  began,  no  man  ever  lost  so  great  an  opportunity  to  serve 
his  country  as  Meade  lost  by  neglecting  to  strike  his  adversary  at 
Williamsport." 

Lee  was  permitted  to  escape  over  the  Potomac,  only  thirty 
miles  distant,  although  he  did  not  cross  until  the  14th,  owing  to 
high  water ;  Meade  offered  his  resignation  (which  was  not  ac- 
cepted) in  consequence  of  the  telegrams  sent  to  him  from  Wash- 
ington which  he  did  not  obey,  and  the  Rebellion  continued  nearly 
two  years  longer. 


"Meade,  Couch,  Smith,  and  all,  since  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  had  striven 
only  to  get  Lee  over  the  river  without  a  further  fight." 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
A  THRILLING  RESCUE— ROSECRANS   SAVED. 

On  the  night  of  September  22,  1863,  Stanton  received  a  confi- 
dential telegram  from  Assistant-Secretary  C.  A.  Dana,  at  the  front, 
giving  an  accurate  account  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  under 
General  W.  S.  Rosecrans,  just  defeated  at  Chickamauga.  Horses 
were  without  forage  and  dying  by  the  thousand,  and  soldiers  were 
on  half-rations  and  without  fuel.  A  few  (General  Garfield  said  ten) 
days  would  starve  out  the  army  and  give  the  Confederates  control 
of  the  western  gateway  between  the  North  and  South — an  immeas- 
urable disaster. 

Stanton  knew  that  reinforcements  could  not  come  from  General 
Sherman,  and  that  General  Banks  had  all  he  could  do  to  save  his 
own  army.  The  Army  of  the  Cumberland  could  be  saved,  if  at  all, 
only  by  forces  from  the  Potomac.  He  came  to  a  decision  at  once 
and  sent  orderlies  scurrying  through  the  District  to  summon  Lin- 
coln (from  the  Soldiers'  Home),  General-in-Chief  Halleck,  and  the 
cabinet  officers  to  a  conference  in  the  War  Department.  Nearly 
all  were  in  bed,  but  they  arose  hurriedly  in  response  to  Stanton's 
imperative  and  unceremonious  summons :  "The  Secretary  of  War 
wants  to  see  you  at  once  at  the  Department." 

Stanton  read  the  telegrams  from  Dana  disclosing  that  without 
heroic  measures  fearful  disasters  were  in  store,  but  no  one  sug- 
gested a  remedy.  He  then  said  he  proposed  to  send  twenty 
thousand  veteran  troops  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  over  the 
mountains  to  Chattanooga,  and  thought  it  could  be  accomplished 
in  five  days.  Lincoln  exclaimed :  "I'll  bet  you  can't  even  get  them 
to  Washington  in  five  days,"  and  General  Halleck  declared  that  the 
proposed  transfer  "could  not  be  made  in  less  than  forty  days." 

The  entire  cabinet*  sided  with  Lincoln  and  Halleck,  but  after 
reading  Garfield's  telegram  saying  the  army  would  be  starved  in 

♦Chase,  in  his  diary,  says  that  finally  himself  and  Seward  joined  Stan- 
ton. 


204  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

ten  days,  Stanton  insisted  that  the  rescue  was  imperative,  that  the 
movement  could  be  made,  and,  furthermore,  that  he  intended  to 
make  it. 

General  D.  C.  McCallum,  but  lately  appointed  director  of  Mili- 
tary Railroads,  who  had  been  sent  for  during  the  discussion,  now 
arrived.  He  had  been  "posted"  by  General  T.  T.  Eckert  as  to 
what  was  going  on,  says  W.  H.  Whiton,  his  chief  clerk,  and  was 
ready  with  a  reply.  The  proposition  was  stated  by  Lincoln,  and 
then  Stanton  inquired : 

"If  you  have  supreme  authority  and  abundant  transportation, 
how  quickly  can  you  make  the  transfer?" 

'T  can  complete  it  in  seven  days,"  answered  McCallum. 

"Good!  I  told  you  so!  I  knew  it  could  be  done.  Forty  days! 
Forty  days  indeed,  when  the  life  of  the  nation  is  at  stake !" 
exclaimed  Stanton,  turning  scornfully  toward  Halleck,  and  added 
to  McCallum:    "Go  ahead;  begin  now." 

Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  in  charge  of  the  telegraph  records, 
was  present,  and  describes  what  followed : 

"Mr.  Secretary,"  said  Lincoln,  "I  have  not  yet  given  my  consent."  With 
a  quick  burst  of  impassioned  eloquence  so  natural  to  him,  Mr.  Stanton  de- 
clared that  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  would  be  destroyed,  never  to  be 
replaced;  that  Chattanooga  would  be  lost,  and  that  probably  Burnside's 
whole  army  would  be  lost.  Then,  referring  to  Washington,  he  declared 
that  it  would  be  safe.  On  that  night,  as  on  many  an  occasion  before, 
his  great  powers  as  war  minister  were  exercised  in  a  spirit  that  over- 
ruled the  President,  for  in  matters  of  determination  and  will  he  was  aggres- 
sively superior  to  all  the  cabinet,  including  the  President. 

Having  thus  conquered  opposition  and  sent  an  orderly  with 
Lincoln  back  to  the  Soldiers'  Home,  he  did  not  retire,  but  began 
setting  the  machinery  of  his  thrilling  plan  of  rescue  in  motion. 
While  waiting  for  the  messengers  to  bring  Lincoln  and  the  cabinet 
members,  he  had  telegraphed  to  John  W.  Garrett,  Thomas  A. 
Scott,  and  S.  M.  Felton,  the  railway  managers,  to  come  to  Wash- 
ington as  soon  as  possible,  and  asked  for  essential  information 
from  the  several  railway  superintendents  south  of  the  Ohio  River, 
this  being  a  sample: 

September  23,  1863,  11:20  P.   M. 
Brigadier-General  Boyle,  Louisville: 

Please  ascertain  and  report  to  me  immediately: 

1.     How  many  men  can  be  transported  by  employing  the  entire  rolling 


A  THRILLING  RESCUE— ROSECRANS  SAVED  205 

stock  of  the  road  from  Louisville  to  Nashville,  enumerating  the  cars  of  every 
description  that  could  be  employed? 

2.  How  many  hours  are  usually  required  to  make  the  trip  from  Louis- 
ville to  Nashville,  and  at  what  rate  of  speed? 

3.  Is  the  road  from  Nashville  to  Chattanooga  the  same  gauge  as  the 
road  from  Louisville  to  Nashville,  so  that  cars  can  go  directly  from  Louis- 
ville to  Chattanooga,  and  what  time  is  required  from  Nashville  to  Chat- 
tanooga? 

4.  If  the  gauge  of  the  roads  is  different,  what  is  the  supply  of  rolling 
stock  on  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  road? 

At  3:30  A.  M.,  September  24,  Stanton  telegraphed  to 
Charles  A.  Dana :  "We  have  arranged  to  send  fifteen  thousand 
[twenty-three  thousand]  infantry  under  Hooker,  and  will  have 
them  in  Nashville  in  five  or  six  days,  with  orders  to  go  immediately 
to  wherever  Rosecrans  wants  them."  A  few  minutes  later  he 
ordered  Hooker  by  wire  to  seize  and  use  all  the  railways  he  might 
need  and  to  command  all  the  "officers  thereof"  to  help  and  obey. 

At  breakfast  time  President  Garrett  arrived  in  the  War  Office, 
followed  before  noon  by  T.  A.  Scott  and  S.  M.  Felton,  from  whom 
the  amount  of  rolling  stock  instantly  available  was  learned.  Stan- 
ton had  not  yet  slept  nor  eaten,  and  Townsend,  the  adjutant-gen- 
eral, was  trotting  about  with  a  half-eaten  sandwich  in  one  hand  and 
a  bundle  of  Stanton's  orders  to  be  sent  "immediately"  in  the  other. 

In  the  meantime  McCallum,  with  supreme  written  authority 
over  the  entire  enterprise,  had  set  out  for  Virginia,  leaving  W.  H. 
Whiton,  his  chief  clerk  and  assistant,  in  charge.  In  the  Whiton 
manuscript  occurs  this  passage : 

Oh,  it  was  an  eventful  night!  While  in  the  quiet  hours  the  nation  slum- 
bered, its  great  War  Secretary  inaugurated  and  put  in  motion  a  mighty 
movement  to  save  its  army  and  perchance  its  life.  All  night  he  toiled  and 
planned  and  directed — no  rest  for  his  exhausted  brain,  no  sleep  for  his 
weary  eyes. 

Morning  came  and  we  were  electrified  by  a  despatch  saying  the  first 
train-load  of  troops  had  left  Washington — troops  that  at  midnight  were 
asleep  in  their  tents  miles  away! 

Every  half-hour  a  fresh  train  was  started,  and,  once  in  motion,  was  not 
stopped  or  delayed  except  for  wood  and  water.  At  all  wood  and  water 
stations  relays  of  men  from  the  commissary  department  supplied  coffee  and 
cooked  rations  abundantly  to  the  soldiers.  No  one  was  allowed  to  leave 
the  cars.  Food  and  drink  were  swallowed  as  the  trains  moved  and  the 
boys  were  satisfied. 

Train  despatchers  and  station  agents  along  the  lines  were  made  cap- 
tains by  telegrams  from  Stanton,  with  orders  to  arrest  any  soldier  leaving 


206  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

the  trains  or  any  person  interfering  with  their  movements,   and   thus   our 
military  czar  rushed  his  troops  to  the  rescue. 

Having  learned,  in  response  to  his  inquiries,  where  the  gauges 
of  the  several  roads  changed,  Stanton  telegraphed  to  Amasa  Stone 
of  Cleveland,  to  "go  at  once  and  take  possession  of  the  roads  south 
of  the  Ohio  River  and  provide  for  more  rolling  stock.  Call  upon 
every  railroad  and  manufacturing  company  for  its  instant  aid  for 
that  purpose  and  I  will  also  issue  telegraphic  reports  to  such  as  I 
can  get  knowledge  of."  Stone  could  not  go  instantly,  so  T.  A. 
Scott  was  despatched  in  his  place  and  performed  the  task  with 
consummate  ability. 

At  9:10  P.  M.  of  September  25,  the  eleventh  army  corps  had 
fully  embarked  at  Manassas,  Virginia,  and  the  next  morning 
Hooker  telegraphed  to  Rosecrans:  "I  leave  with  forty  rounds  for 
men ;  twenty  rounds  for  artillery ;  sixteen  thousand  infan- 
try and  nine  batteries.  Be  ready  with  supplies,  orders,  etc.,  for 
one  thousand  one  hundred  horses  and  twenty-three  thousand  men." 

A  similar  telegram  came  to  Stanton,  who  then,  for  the  first 
time  in  three  days,  sought  rest.  Tying  a  handkerchief  wet  with 
cologne  about  his  head,  he  stretched  out  on  the  office  couch  to 
sleep.  He  had  won  by  causing  the  military  and  railroad  worlds  to 
jump  and  spin  as  they  never  before  spun  and  jumped,  and  was 
entitled  to  a  moment  of  respite. 

The  great  caravan  six  miles  in  length  whirled  over  the  Alle- 
ghanies  without  accident,  save  that  a  few  soldiers  riding  on  the 
outside  of  the  cars  were  frozen  to  death  by  the  swift  motion  of  the 
trains  through  the  cold  atmosphere  of  the  mountain  summits ;  and 
there  was  a  momentary  delay  to  the  first  trains  while  T.  A.  Scott 
(who  by  Stanton's  order  impressed  eight  thousand  negroes  to 
change  the  gauge  of  the  Louisville  and  Lexington  Railroad)  was 
throwing  in  a  short  connecting  link  to  the  Frankfort  railroad. 

Another  interesting  statement  occurs  in  the  Whiton  manu- 
scripts, as  follows : 

Mr.  Stanton  watched  the  progress  of  the  troop  trains  with  anxiety.  Re- 
ports of  each  train  as  it  passed  given  points  were  telegraphed,  so  that  he 
was  kept  fully  informed. 

The  first  train  arrived  at  Jeffersonville,  on  the  Ohio  River  opposite 
Louisville,  at  about  1  o'clock  at  night.  The  soldiers  marched  at  once 
aboard  a  steamer  in  waiting,  where  a  hot,  full  meal  was  ready  for  them. 

They  ate  as  they  crossed  the  stream  and,  on  reaching  shore,  fell  in  at 


Henry  L.  Dawes,  M.  C". 


Judge  David  K.  Cartter. 


A  THRILLING  RESCUE— ROSECRANS  SAVED  207 

double  quick  for  the  railway  station.     In  one  hour  and  three-quarters  their 
train  pulled  out  for  Nashville,  Tenn. 

We  now  were  positive  that  the  entire  transfer  would  be  complete  within 
the  seven  days  promised  by  McCallum.  Secretary  Stanton,  for  the  first  time 
since  the  movement  began,  had  gone  to  his  home.  General  Eckert  and 
myself  talked  the  matter  over  and  decided  to  give  him  our  latest  informa- 
tion and  walked  together  to  his  house  for  that  purpose.  It  was  4  o'clock 
when  we  rang  the  bell.  Although  he  had  been  asleep  but  a  short  time,  the 
news  was  so  gratifying  that  he  arose  and  returned  with  as  to  the  Depart- 
ment, where  report  followed  report  of  arriving  trains. 

The  expedition  having  safely  arrived,  Stanton,  accompanied 
by  General  Anson  Stager,  left  on  a  special  train  for  Louisville  by 
way  of  Indianapolis  to  create  the  Department  of  the  Mississippi 
and  place  Grant  in  command  of  it.  Having  done  this,  he  tele- 
graphed to  Assistant-Secretary  P.  H.  Watson  from  Louisville : 

General  Grant  reached  Nashville  safely  yesterday.  *  *  * 
Generals  Garfield  and  Steedman  are  here  on  their  way  home.  Their  rep- 
resentation of  the  incidents  of  the  battle  of  Chickamauga  more  than  con- 
firms the  worst  that  has  reached  us  from  other  sources  as  to  the  conduct 
of  the  commanding  general*  [Rosecrans]  and  the  great  credit  that  is  due 
to  General  Thomas. 

I  expect  to  leave  for  home  to-morrow,  having  completed  all  arrange- 
ments in  regard  to  railroad  management  and  transportation.  I  will  not 
make  as  quick  timet  returning  as  I  did  coming  here. 

Thus  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  saved ;  the  rout  at 
Chickamauga  turned  to  victory ;  the  Confederate  power  of  the 
West  permanently  broken  and  Sherman's  destructive  march  to  the 
sea  made  possible ! 


*It  would  be  unjust  to  infer  from  Stanton's  blunt  telegram  that  Rose- 
crans was  cowardly  or  recalcitrant,  for  he  was  not.  He  was  a  good  fighter, 
"but,"  says  Colonel  Robert  F.  Hunter  of  Washington,  D.  C,  a  graduate  of 
West  Point  and  one  of  Rosecrans'  close  personal  friends,  "Rosey  occa- 
sionally tippled  and  of  course  sometimes  at  an  exceedingly  inopportune 
moment.     That,  unfortunately,  was  the  case  at  Chickamauga." 


fThe  run  from  Washington  to  Indianapolis  was  made  at  the  highest  at- 
tainable rate  of  speed.  In  Ohio,  when  the  train  held  up  for  water  and  fuel, 
Stanton  alighted  and  asked  the  engineer  how  he  was  getting  on.  The  reply 
was:  "Great  God!  You'll  get  through  alive  if  I  do." 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

NEWSPAPER   HOSTILITY— THE   WAR   DIARY. 

Stanton  was  not  popular  with  newspapers.  He  never  sought 
their  favor  and,  as  secretary,  held  them  strictly  within  what  he 
believed  to  be  the  limits  of  national  safety.  In  his  order  of  Febru- 
ary 26,  1862,  he  decreed : 

All  newspapers  publishing  military  news,  however  obtained,  not  author- 
ized by  official  authority,  will  be  excluded  thereafter  from  receiving  infor- 
mation by  telegraph  and  from  transmitting  their  publications  by  railroad. 

Although  this  was  modified  next  day  by  an  order  "permitting 
newspapers  to  publish  past  facts,  leaving  out  all  details  of  military 
forces,  and  all  statements  from  which  the  number,  position,  and 
strength  of  the  military  forces  of  the  United  States  can  be  in- 
ferred," the  press,  as  a  whole,  was  greatly  exasperated.  However, 
the  summary  imprisonment  in  Fort  Henry  of  Dr.  Malcolm  Ives 
of  the  New  York  Herald,  held  reporters,  editors,  and  publishers 
considerably  in  check,  though  much  against  their  will.  Ives  forced 
his  way  into  the  War  Department  on  the  evening  of  February  8, 
1862,  and  threatened  the  administration  with  chastisement  by  the 
Herald  (which  threat  that  paper  fully  repudiated)  if  he  should  not 
be  given  free  access  to  whatever  information  might  be  on  file.  The 
order  of  arrest  was  published  as  a  general  warning  to  correspond- 
ents and  reporters  and  concluded  thus : 

Newspapers  are  valuable  organs  of  public  intelligence  and  instruc- 
tion, and  every  proper  facility  will  be  afforded  to  all  loyal  persons  to  procure, 
on  equal  terms,  information  of  such  public  facts  as  may  be  properly  made 
known  in  times  of  rebellion.  But  no  matter  how  useful  or  powerful  the 
press  may  be,  like  everything  else,  it  is  subordinate  to  national  safety.  The 
fate  of  an  army  or  the  destiny  of  a  nation  may  be  imperiled  by  a  spy  in  the 
garb  of  a  newspaper  agent.  The  nation  is  in  conflict  with  treason  and 
rebellion,  and  may  be  threatened  by  foreign  foes.  The  lives  and  fortunes 
of  20,000,000  of  people,  and  the  peace  and  happiness  of  their  posterity  in  the 
loyal  States,  the  fate  of  public  liberty  and  of  republican   government,  are 


NEWSPAPER  HOSTILITY— THE  WAR  DIARY  209 

staked  on  the  instant  issue.  The  duties  of  the  President,  his  secretary,  of 
every  officer  of  the  Government,  and  especially  in  the  War  Department  and 
military  service,  are  at  this  moment  urgent  and  solemn  duties — the  most  ur- 
gent and  solemn  that  ever  fell  upon  man. 

No  news-gatherer  or  any  other  person  for  sordid  or  treasonable  pur- 
poses can  be  suffered  to  intrude  upon  them  at  such  a  time  to  procure  news 
by  threats  or  spy  out  official  acts  which  the  safety  of  the  nation  requires  shall 
not  be  disclosed.  For  these  reasons  the  aforesaid  Ives  has  been  arrested 
and  imprisoned,  and  all  other  persons  so  offending  will  be  dealt  with  in 
like  manner. 

Nevertheless  he  was  unable  to  prevent  the  publication  of  false 
reports  of  victory  or  defeat,  exaggerated  statements  of  losses  in 
battle,  unfounded  "rumors"  of  prominent  commanders  killed,  and 
sensational  plans  of  army  movements.  But  the  faults  complained 
of  did  not  lie  wholly  with  the  newspapers.  General  Herman 
Haupt  says : 

Public  opinion,  in  and  out  of  the  army,  was  manufactured  by  the  pen. 
Most  commanders  did  not  dare  to  be  on  terms  of  familiarity  with  the 
large  and  enterprising  corps  of  newspaper  correspondents,  and  General  Mc- 
Dowell went  so  far  as  to  station  a  guard  about  the  telegraph  instruments  so 
the  reporters  could  not  intercept  telegrams.  But  McClellan  made  a  point  of 
being  friendly  and  condescending  to  them  and  frequently  invited  them  to 
dine  with  him.  Thus,  while  he  was  falsely  puffed  and  written  up  as  the 
"Little  Napoleon,"  the  "Savior  of  the  Country"  and  all  that,  the  other 
commanders.  Secretary  Stanton  especially,  were  written  down,  maligned, 
and  misrepresented  on  every  possible  occasion. 

William  H.  Russell  of  the  London  Times,  who  was  expelled  by 
Stanton  from  McClellan's  command  for  sending  out  army  secrets 
and  false  news,  was  one  of  McClellan's  particular  friends,  and 
received  his  "news"  personally  from  the  "Little  Napoleon." 

Other  commanders  were  friendly  with  reporters.  On  April  30, 
1863,  Stanton  wrote  to  General  Hooker  at  Falmouth,  Virginia: 

You  must  protect  yourself  by  rigid  means  against  the  newspaper  re- 
porters in  your  army,  and  the  Department  will  support  any  measure  you 
may  take.  Unless  some  one  shall  be  punished  you  may  suffer  great  in- 
jury. *  *  *  *  Exaggerated  reports  have  been  sent  by  mail  to 
the  Times  and  Herald,  but  nothing  has  been  allowed  to  go  by  telegraph. 

Again  on  May  2  he  telegraphed  to  Hooker : 

We  cannot  control  intelligence  in  relation  to  army  movements  while 
your  own  generals  are  writing  letters  giving  details.     A  letter  from   Gen- 


210  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

eral  Van  Alen  to  a  person  not  connected  with  the  War  Department  fully  de- 
scribes your  position  and  entrenchments  at  Chancellorsville.  Can't  you 
give  his  sword  something  to  do  so  he  will  have  less  time  for  the  pen? 

Stanton  telegraphed  to  General  Meade  that  reporters  were 
securing  news  from  his  headquarters  through  his  chief-of-staff,  who 
should  be  suppressed  or  removed;  and  when  Meade  wrote  a  letter 
to  Senator  Reverdy  Johnson  concerning  the  battle  of  Gettysburg, 
he  was  called  to  account  with  severity,  Stanton  asking  him  for  his 
authority  for  such  a  letter  and  reminding  him  of  prior  suggestions 
that  all  communications  concerning  the  war  must  be  sent  through 
the  War  Department  only. 

In  December,  1864,  Grant  wrote  to  him  concerning  coopera- 
tion of  the  navy  in  an  attempt  to  reduce  Wilmington,  North  Caro- 
lina, saying  he  himself  would  not  correspond  with  that  Depart- 
ment. Stanton  answered :  "You  can  count  on  no  secrecy  in  the 
navy.     Newspaper  reporters  have  the  rim  of  that  Department." 

Grant  cooperated  effectively  in  preventing  military  secrets 
from  reaching  the  newspapers,  all  telegraphic  communication  with 
army  headquarters  except  on  Government  business  being  abso- 
lutely prohibited  by  Stanton's  order.  In  November,  186-4,  Grant 
asked  Stanton  to  exclude  certain  newspapers  containing  army 
secrets  from  Southern  circulation,  calling  attention  to  a  publication 
in  the  New  York  Tiwcs  of  Sherman's  plans.  On  November  11, 
1864,  at  10  P.  M.,  Stanton  replied: 

I  have  seen  with  indignation  the  newspaper  articles  referred  to  and 
others  of  like  kind,  but  they  come  from  Sherman's  army  and  generally  from 
his  own  officers,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  he  has  not  been  very 
guarded  in  his  own  talk.  I  saw  to-day,  in  a  paymaster's  letter  to  another 
officer,  his  plans  as  stated  by  himself.  Yesterday  I  received  full  details 
given  by  a  member  of  his  staflF  to  a  friend  in  Washington.  Matters  not 
spoken  of  aloud  in  the  Department  are  bruited  by  officers  from  Sherman's 
army  in  every  Western  printing-office  and  street.  If  he  cannot  keep  from 
revealing  his  plans  to  his  paymaster,  and  his  staflf  send  them  broadcast 
over  the  land,  I  cannot  prevent  their  publication. 

Papers  like  the  Chicago  Times,  New  York  News,  and  many 
others   of   lesser   calibre*    were    suppressed,    sometimes    for    long 


♦John  D.  Kees  of  the  Ohio  Watchman,  who  was  immured  in  the  Old 
Capitol  Prison  on  Stanton's  order  for  publishing  articles  against  enlist- 
ment, sued,  on  being  released,  for  $30,000  damages  for  false  imprisonment, 
but  was  defeated,  as  was  every  other  editor  of  this  class  who  resisted. 


NEWSPAPER  HOSTILITY— THE  WAR  DIARY  211 

periods,  and  all  War  Department  subordinates  were  prohibited 
from  giving  information  even  of  a  personal  nature  to  reporters  and 
correspondents.  Stanton  had  no  faith  in  officers  who  consorted 
freely  with  and  toadied  to  newspapers,  and  understood  fully  the 
undeserved  unpopularity  the  angry  press  was  creating  for  himself. 
In  the  letter  to  Dr.  Heman  Dyer  of  New  York,  dated  May  18,  1862. 
but  not  discovered  until  after  its  author  had  been  dead  twenty 
years,  he  thus  referred  to  the  almost  universal  enmity  of  the  press : 

If  I  wanted  to  be  a  politician  or  candidate  for  any  office,  would  I  stand 
against  the  whole  newspaper  gang  in  the  country,  of  every  part,  who,  to 
sell  news,  would  imperil  a  battle? 

I  was  never  taken  for  a  fool,  but  there  could  be  no  greater  madness 
than  for  a  man  to  encounter  what  I  do  for  anything  less  than  motives 
that  overleap  time  and  look  forward  to  eternity. 

He  referred  to  the  matter  at  other  times,  as  his  private  letters 
show,  but  during  his  lifetime  the  public  never  knew  what  he 
thought  or  how  he  felt  about  the  attitude  of  the  newspapers.  On 
July  30,  1862,  he  closed  a  letter  to  General  J.  K.  Moorhead  of  Pitts- 
burg, thus :  "I  will  only  add  that  the  dogs  that  have  been  yelping 
at  my  heels,  finding  how  useless  it  is,  appear  to  be  giving  up  the 
hunt  and  contenting  themselves  with  an  occasional  snarl." 

On  May  22,  1863,  he  wrote  to  Assistant-Secretary  P.  H. 
Watson : 

I  received  the  enclosed  impertinent  note  from  Gay  of  the  Tribune.  Of 
course  I  shall  not  answer  it,  but  it  might  be  well,  if  you  have  the  leisure, 
to  call  and  see  Mr.  Greeley  and  explain  the  facts  in  regard  to  Hill. 

As  to  Gay's*  impertinent  inquiry  in  respect  to  privileges,  you  can  say 
that  all  have  equal  rights.  But  neither  rights  nor  privileges  can  be  allowed 
to  one  who  violates  rules  of  the  Department  for  altering  or  publishing 
official  business. 

On  November  19,  1864,  he  wrote  to  S.  P.  Chase: 

Your  experience  has  taught  you  that  newspaper  reports  are  lies,  in- 
vented by  knaves  for  fools  to  feed  on.  This  is  especially  true  in  respect  of 
cabinet  changes  and  the  chief-justiceship.  Changes  in  the  cabinet  will  of 
course  take  place,  but  they  will  be  made  in  time  and  manner  that  no  one  will 
be  looking  for. 

In   regard  to   the   chief-justiceship,   I   learn   from    outside   sources   that 


*Gay  was  manager  and  A.   S.   Hill  Washington   correspondent  of  the 
New  York  Tribune. 


213  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Swayne  is  the  most  active  and  Blair  the  most  confident  of  the  candidates. 
My  belief  is  that  you  will  be  offered  the  appointment,  if  it  has  not  already 
been  done. 

"No  newspaper  reporter  ever  came  to  Mr.  Stanton  or  to  any 
officer  of  the  War  Department  for  news,"  says  Major  A.  E.  H. 
Johnson.  "He  held  all  officials  to  a  rule  of  strict  non-intercourse 
with  reporters  and  correspondents.  Of  all  the  branches  of  Gov- 
ernment, the  War  Department  was  the  last  resort  of  reporters.  For 
this  the  newspapers  reveled  in  denunciation  and  abuse  of  Mr.  Stan- 
ton. But  if  ever  a  tyrant  was  right,  it  was  the  great  War  Secretary, 
and  his  persistent  and  unrelenting  tyranny  was  the  colossal  factor 
that  made  this  nation  what  it  now  is." 

Stanton's  notion  that  unbridled  freedom  to  all  grades  of  news- 
papers is  dangerous,  in  time  of  rebellion,  received  frequent  confirma- 
tion. On  the  morning  of  May  18,  1864,  the  World  and  the  Journal 
of  Commerce  of  New  York  contained  what  purported  to  be  a  procla- 
mation by  President  Lincoln  setting  aside  the  26th  of  the  month  as 
a  "day  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer,"  and  calling  for  four 
hundred  thousand  more  troops  to  be  furnished  before  June  15, 
following,  or  raised  by  a  "peremptory  draft."  The  document, 
although  subsequently  proven  to  be  spurious,  was  in  Lincoln's 
style,  and  created  excitement  akin  to  panic  in  New  York  City.  The 
substance  of  it  was  telegraphed  to  Stanton,  who  instantly  ordered 
General  Dix  (commanding  at  New  York)  to  seize  and  close  the 
offices  and  arrest  the  editors  of  the  newspapers  publishing  the 
proclamation  and  seize  the  offices  of  the  telegraph  line  which  was 
supposed  to  have  transmitted  the  forgery  from  Washington  to 
New  York. 

Having  telegraphed  this  order  "confidentially"  to  Dix,  Stanton 
proceeded  to  the  White  House  and  asked  Lincoln  to  issue  a 
proclamation  authorizing  what  he  himself  had  already  directed  to 
be  done.  Dix  acted  decisively,  closing  th-e  several  offices  men- 
tioned and  arresting  editors,  managers,  telegraph  operators,  and 
other  employes  as  rapidly  as  they  could  be  apprehended.  On  the 
20th  he  arrested  Joseph  Howard,  formerly  private  secretary  to 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  who  confessed  authorship  of  the  forgery  and 
was  sent  to  Fort  Lafayette.  In  his  confession  Howard  exonerated 
the  editors  of  the  offending  papers,  which  fact  was  reported  to 
Stanton,  who  replied  by  telegraph  to  Dix: 


L.  A.  SoMERs.  "Wm.  Bender  Wilson. 

United  States  Military  Telegraph  Corps. 


NEWSPAPER  HOSTILITY— THE  WAR  DIARY  213 

Your  telegram  respecting  the  arrest  of  Howard  has  been  received  and 
submitted  to  the  President.  He  directs  me  to  say  that  while,  in  his  opinion, 
the  editors,  proprietors,  and  publishers  of  the  World  and  the  Journal  of  Com- 
vjcrce  are  responsible  for  whatever  appears  in  their  papers  injurious  to  the 
public  service,  and  have  no  right  to  shield  themselves  behind  a  plea  of 
ignorance  or  want  of  criminal  intent,  he  is  not  disposed  to  visit  them  with 
vindictive  punishment;  and,  hoping  they  will  exercise  more  caution  and 
regard  for  the  public  welfare  in  the  future,  he  authorizes  you  to  restore  to 
them   their   respective    establishments. 

On  the  23d  the  newspapers  involved  were  allowed  to  resume 
publication  as  usual.  The  decisive  steps  Stanton  had  taken  against 
them,  however,  were  denounced  without  measure  by  the  press,  and 
Governor  Seymour  wanted  the  grand  jury  of  New  York  to  investi- 
gate the  matter,  declaring  that  the  author  of  the  "illegal"  seizure 
must  be  punished ! 

Stanton  cared  nothing  for  that.  He  well  knew  the  necessities 
of  the  situation.  Hoaxing  had  been,  to  a  considerable  extent  during 
the  war,  a  newspaper  fad.  A  forged  report  purporting  to  have  been 
made  by  the  Confederate  Secretary  of  the  Navy  had  led  Secretary 
Seward  to  open  correspondence  with  Great  Britain,  and  a  series  of 
spurious  letters  over  the  name  of  Jefferson  Davis  had  created 
considerable  official  disturbance  in  another  direction.  Therefore, 
when  Stanton  found  his  own  Department  entangled  in  a  forgery 
and  could  lay  his  hand  upon  the  perpetrator,  he  determined  to 
strike  a  deathblow  to  the  entire  business  and  did  so  with  such 
swiftness  that  the  offense  was  not  repeated. 

His  desperate  devotion  to  duty  is  illustrated  anew  by  an  inci- 
dent connected  with  this  forgery.  When  he  forwarded  the  first 
instructions  from  Washington,  Dix  replied  that  he  was  "investi- 
gating the  gross  fraud  of  this  morning,"  not  meaning,  however, 
that  there  would  be  any  hesitation  in  obeying  orders.  Stanton 
answered :  "Your  telegram  is  just  received.  A  great  national 
crime  has  been  committed  by  the  publication.  The  editors,  pro- 
prietors, and  publishers,  responsible  and  irresponsible,  are  in  law 
guilty  of  that  crime.  You  were  not  directed  to  make  an  investiga- 
tion but  to  execute  the  President's  orders.  *  *  *  How  you 
can  excuse  or  justify  delay  in  executing  the  President's  order  until 
you  make  an  investigation  is  not  for  me  to  determine." 

Dix,  hardly  less  stern  and  impartial  than  Stanton,  fully  appre- 
ciated the  aggressive  patriotism  of  his  superior  antl  relished  rather 
than  resented  the  not  infrequent  rebukes,  like  th?  foregoing,  which 


214  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

reached  him,  for  he  knew  they  were  intended  to  benefit  his  country. 

Previous  to  the  forgery  just  described,  Stanton  conceived  and 
had  begun  to  put  forth  a  "war  diary"  as  an  effective  means  of 
destroying  the  power  of  conscienceless  newspapers  and  corres- 
pondents. Although  already  worn  nearly  to  prostration  by  the 
multiplicity  and  weight  of  his  burdens,  he  undertook  the  new  duty 
of  summarizing  each  day's  military  events  and  movements 
throughout  the  country  and  giving  that  summary  over  his  own 
signature  to  the  press  before  retiring  for  the  night.  These  bulle- 
tins or  gazettes,  dated  variously  between  8  P.  M.  and  2  A. 
M.,  are  models  of  compactness,  completeness,  and  clearness.  The 
marches,  sorties,  battles,  losses,  captures,  conditions,  and  achieve- 
ments of  every  command  in  the  army  were  set  forth  with  forceful 
brevity,  so  that  each  morning  the  eager  masses  were  treated  to  a 
vivid  panorama  of  the  vast  field  of  national  strife  that,  but  an  hour 
before,  had  been  painted  and  signed  by  the  chief  artist,  the  Secretary 
of  War  himself.  Frequently  these  descriptions  were  of  consider- 
able length  and  eloquence.  When  he  was  returning  by  sea  on  the 
Spalding  from  a  visit  to  General  Sherman  at  Savannah,  he  received 
on  board  ship  from  General  Terry,  on  Tuesday,  January  16,  1865, 
the  Confederate  flag  just  taken  from  Fort  Fisher,  at  the  mouth  of 
Cape  Fear  River.  From  the  officers  and  men  who  participated  in 
that  desperate  and  bloody  assault,  nearly  all  of  whom  he  pro- 
moted on  the  spot,  he  obtained  the  facts  just  as  they  were,  and 
rapidly  composed  and  sent  to  the  people,  though  directed  to  the 
President,  a  telegram  a  column  in  length  which  caused  the  national 
heart  to  thrill  and  rejoice — for  Fort  Fisher  had  been  an  effective 
protection  to  Wilmington,  the  only  seaport  through  which  foreign 
goods  reached  the  insurgents. 

Gazettes  like  this  came  to  the  people  as  verities,  supplanting 
all  forms  of  newspaper  and  other  unofficial  information.  Although 
the  "war  diary"  did  not  drive  "war  correspondents"  out  of  busi- 
ness, it  entirely  suppressed  fabricators  of  sensational  rumors  and 
peddlers  of  false  reports,  and  wiped  out  the  power  of  hostile  and 
(///a.!rj-disloyal  papers  to  weaken  the  Government  effort  or  harass 
the  administration. 

This  "diary"  continued  until  the  war  closed  and  Lincoln's 
assassins  were  in  captivity,  and  is  a  unique  feature  of  military 
administration.  The  bulletins,  although  addressed  ostensibly  to 
General  John  A.  Dix,  in  New  York,  were  in  fact  given  directly  to 


NEWSPAPER  HOSTILITY— THE  WAR  DIARY  215 

the  associated  press  operators  by  Stanton  himself  and  accom- 
plished more  in  the  way  of  unifying  and  inspiring  the  people,  re- 
electing Lincoln,  destroying  the  news  fakir,  and  hastening  the 
end  of  hostilities  than  any  other  instrumentality  of  similar  charac- 
ter. They  were  official,  signed  by  Stanton  as  secretary  of  war ;  but, 
during  the  six  years  of  his  incumbency,  he  did  not  otherwise 
address  the  public — submitted  to  no  interview,  answered  no 
attack,*  prepared  no  magazine  articles,  made  no  defense,  wrote  no 
book,  and  held  his  subordinates  rigidly  to  the  same  line  of  decorous 
military  conduct.  But  times  have  changed.  The  number  of  books, 
pamphlets,  magazine  and  newspaper  articles  produced  by  the  par- 
ticipants in  the  recent  Spanish-American  war  far  exceeds  the 
aggregate  casualties  on  both  sides  of  the  conflict ! 


*There  are  two  exceptions  to  this  statement — when  he  published  a 
denial  in  the  New  York  Tribune  of  responsibility  for  the  victory  at  Fort 
Donelson  and  when,  on  May  12,  1865,  he  ordered  Edwards  Pierrepont  to 
prosecute  Horace  Greeley  for  suggesting  a  vacancy  in  the  ofifice  of  secre- 
tary of  war: 

"I  have  written  to-night  to  retain  you,  Cutting,  and  Brady,  or  any  one 
else  you  may  desire  to  have  associated  with  you,  to  prosecute  Horace 
Greeley  and  the  owners  of  the  Tribune  for  Greeley's  persistent  effort  the 
last  four  weeks  to  incite  assassins  to  finish  their  work  by  murdering  me. 
Please  give  the  matter  your  immediate  attention *on  receiving  the  letter  and 
secure  copies  of  all  Tribunes  published  since  the  night  of  the  President's 
murder;  also  the  names  of  the  owners.  I  propose  to  prosecute  criminally 
and  by  civil  suit.  I  shall  not  allow  them  to  have  me  murdered  and  escape 
responsibility  without  a  struggle  for  life  on  my  part." 

A  few  days  later  Stanton  furnished  proof  of  malice  on  the  part  of 
Greeley,  but  the  proposed  suit  was  never  brought  nor  was  the  public 
aware  that  it  had  been  contemplated. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
PERFECT   AUTOCRACY— THE   MILITARY    TELEGRAPH. 

When  he  became  Secretary  Cameron's  legal  adviser,  after  the 
bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter,  Stanton  urged  the  necessity  of 
acquiring  control  of  all  telegraph  lines  in  the  country,  and  retain- 
ing it  to  the  end  of  hostilities.  He  had  been  a  director  in  and 
attorney  for  the  old  Atlantic  and  Ohio  Telegraph  Company  and 
engaged  for  years  in  the  litigation  between  S.  F.  B.  Morse  and  the 
telegraph  companies,  which  gave  him  a  full  understanding  of  the 
vast  possibilities  of  telegraphy  as  an  instrument  of  national  defense. 
Cameron  made  an  attempt  to  follow  his  advice,  but  interference  by 
the  State  Department  rendered  it  ineffective.  In  August,  1861, 
General  McClellan,  who  had  just  reached  Washington,  approved  a 
censorship  which  was  handed  over  to  the  State  Department  to  be 
managed  by  an  "instrument-maker"  from  Philadelphia.  This 
arrangement  continued  until  Stanton  swept  the  management  of  all 
the  telegraph  offices  and  lines  in  the  United  States  into  the  War 
Department  by  the  order  of  February  26,  1862. 

On  March  2,  having  appointed  E.  S.  Sanford  supervisor  and 
Anson  Stager  superintendent,  he  concentrated  the  control  of  the 
telegraphic  machinery  of  the  nation  next  to  his  own  rooms.  There- 
tofore the  telegraph  bureau  had  been  managed  by  General 
McClellan,  and  he  never  forgave  Stanton  for  what  he  termed  "his 
humiliation."*  The  change  thus  wrought  was  magical.  By  a 
single  stroke  the  supply  of  inside  Federal  news  was  cut  from  the 
Richmond  papers ;  army  officers  and  high  functionaries  were  pre- 
vented from  using  the  lines  for  Wall  Street  speculations,  and  spies 


♦"There  was  consternation  in  McClellan's  headquarters,"  says  John 
Francis  Coyle,  editor  of  the  National  Intelligencer,  "when  Secretary  Stanton 
removed  the  telegraph  outfit.  Little  Mac's  rooms  were  free  and  the  tele- 
graph lines  free.  Everybody  used  them  and  there  were  no  secrets.  It  was 
common  to  see  fifty  miscellaneous  persons  about  the  headquarters,  includ- 
ing women  and  reporters,  and  everybody  knows  what  that  meant.  It  was 
^11  very  exasperating  to  Mr.   Stapton," 


PERFECT  AUTOCRACY— MILITARY  TELEGRAPH  217 

were  excluded  from  the  telegraph  records. 

Energy,  concentration,  and  ceaseless  espionage  now  assumed 
charge,  making  what  William  Bender  Wilson  of  Philadelphia,  a 
distinguished  authority,*  says  "became  the  most  wonderfully  accu- 
rate, reliable,  and  intelligent  system  in  the  world."  Men  of  loyalty 
and  executive  ability,  in  whom  Stanton  had  implicit  confidence, 
were  placed  in  command,  inventing  and  using  a  cipher  code  which 
the  Confederates  were  never  able  to  unlock,  and  which  the  opera- 
tors and  translators  never  betrayed. 

"The  first  cipher  code,"  says  Albert  B.  Chandler,  president  of 
the  Postal  Telegraph  Cable  Company,  "was  a  meagre^  affair  ar- 
ranged by  General  Anson  Stager  and  printed  on  a  card.  The 
additions  and  improvements  which  made  the  code  perfect  and 
brought  it  finally  to  book  form,  were  the  work  of  the  chief  cipher 
operators  of  the  Department" — Albert  B.  Chandler,  General  T. 
T.  Eckert,  C.  A.  Tinker,  and  D.  Homer  Bates. 

The  War  Office  was  placed  in  direct  communication  with  every 
arsenal,  general,  military  depot,  military  prison,  barracks,  ren- 
dezvous, camp,  and  fort  in  the  Union  and,  by  Stanton's  order, 
every  message  to,  from,  and  between  them  passed  through  the 
Department  and  was  therein  deciphered  and  a  recorded  duplicate 
placed  upon  his  desk. 

Even  Lincoln  was  deprived  of  the  use  of  a  special  code  and 
sent  and  received  messages  through  the  common  channel,  A  deep 
box  was  provided  in  the  operating  room  into  which  copies  of  all 
messages  for  him  or  which  he  ought  to  see,  were  dropped.  "He 
came  over  from  the  White  House  several  times  a  day,"  says  Major 
A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  who  had  charge  of  the  telegraph  records,  "and, 
thrusting  his  long  arm  down  among  the  messages,  fished  them  out 
one  by  one  and  read  them.  When  he  had  secured  the  last  one  he 
invariably  made  some  characteristic  remark— generally  something 
that  caused  laughter— and  then  proceeded  to  consult  with  Secre- 
tary Stanton." 

As  far  as  possible,  at  the  outset.   Government  business  was 


*Says  Mr.  Wilson:  "On  April  17,  186],  I  went  with  Thomas  A.  Scott 
to  Governor  Curtin's  office  at  Harrisburg,  and  there,  with  a  relay  magnet 
and  a  key  placed  on  a  window  sill,  opened  the  first  Military  Telegraph 
office  on  this  continent."  A  day  or  two  later  Mr.  Scott  took  D.  Homer 
Bates,  David  Strouse,  Samuel  M.  Brown,  and  Richard  O'Brien  from  the 
Pennsylvania  line  to  establish  the  first  Military  Telegraph  at  Washington. 


218  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

done  over  existing  telegraph  lines ;  but,  when  necessary,  new  lines 
were  strung  throughout  the  Union  either  to  reach  camps  or  battle- 
fields, or  as  loops  between  disconnected  commercial  systems.*  The 
telegraph  office  of  the  War  Department  was  kept  open  night  and 
day  and  "during  distressing  periods,"  says  L.  A.  Somers  of  Cleve- 
land, who  had  charge  of  a  corps  of  Department  operators,  "Mr. 
Stanton  slept  in  the  building  in  order  to  be  ready  instantly  to 
attend  to  important  messages.  The  ordinary  operators  did  not 
have  a  key  to  the  code,  nor  did  Mr.  Stanton ;  therefore.  General 
Anson  Stager,  General  T.  T.  Eckert,  or  Colonel  S.  G.  Lynch  also 
slept  in  the  building  for  a  time  so  there  should  be  no  delay  in 
translating  information  coming  in  late  at  night." 

The  method  of  arranging  and  preserving  the  telegraphic  his- 
tory of  the  war  is  thus  described  by  the  trusted  clerk  who  did  it — 
Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson: 

Every  message  in  any  way  relating  to  the  army  and  navy,  sent  or 
received,  was  copied  and  furnished  to  me  on  letter  sheet  paper  direct  from 
the  telegraph  office,  which  was  in  the  room  adjoining  the  Secretary's.  Car- 
bon copies  on  yellow  tissue  paper  were  furnished  to  the  Secretary.  These 
letter  sheet  telegrams  I  put  in  large  file  books  which  I  kept  in  chests  under 
lock,  each  chest  containing  about  ten  volumes.  The  carbon  copies  I  kept 
in  little  wooden  spring  clothespins — used  as  clips — and  which  I  lettered 
for  each  day  of  the  week,  including  Sunday,  for  we  had  no  rest. 

Mr.  Stanton's  instructions  were  to  let  no  person  see  the  telegrams,  and 
I  once  refused  the  President.  He  never  gave  me  an  opportunity  afterwards 
to  repeat  the  refusal,  but  made  no  sign  of  displeasure.  The  telegraph 
operators  were  under  the  same  injunction,  and  although  the  President 
frequently  went  into  the  telegraph  office  to  send  telegrams,  the  operators 
would  not  show  him  the  telegrams  coming  from  the  armies,  until  later  dur- 
ing the  war,  when  the  rule  was  relaxed  and  a  box  for  his  use  was  provided. 

The  messages  sent  by  the  Secretary  are  mostly  in  his  own  hand- 
writing, and  for  many  a  day  they  show  a  labor  in  writing  probably  greater 
than  that  of  any  clerk  in  his  office. 

Stanton's  method  of  controlling  the  telegraph  lines  was 
peculiarly  autocratic  and  independent.  His  men  were  never  en- 
listed,    mustered,     or     commissioned,     nor     permitted,     although 

*"The  boys  constructed  and  operated  within  the  lines  of  the  army  15,389 
miles  of  telegraph  and  transmitted  over  6,000,000  military  messages.  Amidst 
the  fiercest  roar  of  conflict  they  were  found  coolly  advising  the  commanding 
general  of  the  battle's  progress.  Their  ages  ranged  from  16  to  22  years — 
boys  in  years  but  giants  in  loyalty  and  in  the  work  they  performed  for 
their  country,"  says   William   Bender  Wilson. 


PERFECT  AUTOCRACY— MILITARY  TELEGRAPH  219 

thousands  of  miles  distant  following  armies  and  reporting  battles 
in  the  field,  to  become  attached  to  any  military  command.  By 
retaining  this  little  army  as  a  part  of  his  own  personal  and  con- 
fidential staff,  instead  of  permitting  its  members  to  be  subjected  to 
the  varying  and  conflicting  orders  of  the  numerous  commanders, 
he  insured  the  safety  of  his  cipher  code  and  the  control  of  the 
armies,  and  rendered  betrayal  impossible.  Xot  a  confidential  oper- 
ator or  cipher  translator  ever  flunked,  leaked,  or  violated  his  sacred 
trust.*  They  detected  many  insurgent  movements,  and  the  skill 
of  D.  Homer  Bates,  A.  B.  Chandler,  and  C.  A.  Tinker  prevented  the 
capture  as  planned  of  several  ocean  steamships  sailing  out  of  New 
York  and  also  discovered  the  engravers  of  Confederate  bonds  in 
New  York  City  and  insured  their  apprehension,  together  with  plates 
and  money. 

Stanton's  rigorous  orders,  how^ever,  sometimes  rendered  the 
positions  of  his  operators  very  trying.  At  one  time  General  Grant 
w^as  induced  to  test  Stanton's  control  and  appointed  Colonel  John 
Riggin,  one  of  his  aides,  to  be  superintendent  of  telegraph  lines  in 
his  Department.  Riggin  sent  requisitions  for  supplies  and  issued 
orders  to  the  operators.  The  operator  at  Grant's  headquarters 
reported  the  facts  to  Stanton,  whereupon  Riggin's  orders  were 
countermanded  and  Grant  was  informed  that  General  Stager  was 
superintendent  of  the  Military  Telegraph  and  w^ould  order  all  sup- 


*Richard  O'Brien,  now  of  Scranton,  Pa.,  who  was  one  of  the  four 
operators  selected  first  for  the  military  service,  was  stationed  at  Norfolk 
as  chief  operator  in  the  spring  of  1863,  when  the  Confederate  Congress 
prepared  to  carry  Jefferson  Davis'  proclamation  into  effect  by  providing  to 
execute,  when  captured,  the  officers  of  African  soldiers.  In  Norfolk  cer- 
tain leading  secessionists  cast  lots  to  determine  who  should  assassinate 
the  commander  of  the  first  detachment  of  colored  troops  to  enter  the  city. 
Dr.  Davis  M.  Wright,  one  of  the  foremost  citizens,  drew  the  red  card. 
Second  Lieutenant  A.  L.  Sanborn  of  Massachusetts,  in  command  of  Com- 
pany B,  First  Regular  Colored  Infantrj-,  first  brought  Africans  under  arms 
into  the  city  and  Dr.  Wright  shot  and  killed  him.  Wright  was  captured 
and  on  July  29  convicted  of  murder  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  Powerful 
appeals  were  made  to  Lincoln  for  clemency.  Wright's  intercessors  were 
in  Washington.  The  reprieve  was  expected  by  telegraph.  The  hour  for 
the  execution  was  drawing  near,  but  no  reprieve  came.  At  the  last  moment 
Wright's  friends  offered  O'Brien  $20,000  in  gold  and  a  passage  on  a  block- 
ade runner  to  Europe  if  he  would  forge  a  telegram  from  Lincoln  ordering 
a  release.  The  offer  was  spurned,  notwithstanding  the  condemned  man 
had  a  beautiful  daughter  for  whom  O'Brien  felt  the  tenderest  sympathy. 
The  execution  took  place  as  appointed. 


220  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

plies  and  designate  and  discharge  all  operators.  Grant  subsided, 
but  later  made  another  test  of  authority,  arresting  the  operator  who 
reported  his  first  attempt  to  interfere,  and  sent  word  that  the 
obnoxious  person  must  be  removed  forthwith.  Again  Colonel 
Riggin,  under  Grant's  orders,  attempted  to  assume  control  but,  as 
before,  his  requisitions  were  countermanded  and  all  the  operators 
in  Grant's  Department  resolved  to  resign  for  the  purpose  of  show- 
ing their  independence  of  his  authority.  To  meet  this  dilemma  he 
ordered  that  any  operator  resigning  should  be  arrested  and  placed 
in  close  confinement,  whereupon  Stanton  instructed  General-in- 
Chief  Halleck  to  advise  Grant  concerning  the  rules  and  regulations 
which  certainly  would  govern  the  telegraph.  Grant  pondered  over 
these  instructions  for  a  time,  finally  contenting  himself  with  send- 
ing the  operator  who  had  first  reported  him  away  under  arrest. 
Stanton  telegraphed  the  young  man's  release,  but,  to  avoid  further 
friction,  transferred  him  to  another  station. 

In  January,  1864,  when  he  had  become  lieutenant-general, 
Grant  again  attempted  to  override  Stanton's  authority.  He  was 
about  to  go  from  Nashville  to  Knoxville  and  wanted  Captain  C.  B. 
Comstock,  who  was  to  accompany  him,  to  possess  the  cipher.  The 
operator,  Samuel  H.  Beckwith,  refused  to  surrender  it  without 
special  permission.  Instead  of  telegraphing  for  that  permission  or 
for  the  special  detail  of  an  operator,  which  would  have  been  granted 
instantly,  Grant  informed  the  young  man  that  he  must  disobey  his 
superior  and  deliver  up  the  cipher  or  be  punished,  and  Beckwith 
wrongfully  yielded.  Instantly  Stanton  ordered  him  to  be  dismissed 
from  the  service,  saying  he  should  have  gone  to  prison  rather  than 
surrender  the  cipher.  Grant  was  informed  that  the  operator  had 
been  dismissed  and  that,  as  Comstock  was  not  entitled  to  it,  a  new 
cipher  had  been  ordered,  which  would  never  be  communicated  to 
any  one  without  special  permission.  Grant  saw  plainly  that  Stan- 
ton was  master  of  the  situation  and  ordered  Comstock  to  restore 
the  cipher  to  the  operator,  who  was  also  reinstated.* 

At  an  earlier  date  Grant  was  among  the  few  commanders  who 


*J.  Emmet  O'Brien  of  Scranton,  Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  last  cipher 
operators  to  leave  tHe  service,  relates:  "One  of  General  Grant's  staflf 
invented  a  cipher  which  he  wished  to  supersede  ours,  and  handed  in  a 
message  to  be  sent  to  General  Sheridan.  Tinker  saw  that  it  was  the  sim- 
plest kind  of  a  riddle.  Deciphering  it,  he  handed  the  translation  to  the 
inventor,  which  ended  interference  with  our  specialty." 


PERFECT  AUTOCRACY— MILITARY  TELEGRAPH  221 

did  not  care  to  obey  in  full  Stanton's  order  of  November  13,  1862,  to 
forward,  at  the  end  of  every  month,  "the  original  of  every  telegram 
filed  by  Government  officers"  for  transmission.  The  matter  was 
settled  by  instructions  to  audit  no  bills  for  telegrams  not  accom- 
panied by  the  original  vouchers.  "This  not  only  set  General  Grant 
to  thinking  clearly,  but  placed  the  history  of  the  war  in  our  vaults 
in  its  original  form,  an  instance  not  duplicated  elsewhere  in  the 
world  and  of  the  highest  value  to  truth,"  says  Quartermaster-Gen- 
eral M.  C.  JNIeigs. 

When  the  war  ended,  Stanton  designated  officers  to  take 
charge  of  all  papers  and  writings  in  camp  and  field  until  the  muster- 
out  had  been  completed,  and  bring  the  finished  rolls  and  documents, 
together  with  all  available  insurgent  records,  to  the  War  Depart- 
ment. Without  the  latter  order,  thousands  of  the  most  important 
manuscripts  and  telegrams  now  possessed  by  the  Government  would 
have  been  lost.  These  orders  illustrate  the  comprehensive  mind 
with  which  Stanton  looked  into  the  future,  and  gave  to  the  ages  an 
authentic  history  of  the  nation's  final  struggle  for  life.  As  he  had 
made  no  journal  of  his  doings  and  retained  few  or  no  private 
copies  of  his  letters,  this  official  record  of  the  war  was  a  treasure 
as  dear  as  the  blood  of  his  heart.  It  was  the  written  proof  which, 
in  the  fulness  of  time,  was  to  confuse  his  enemies  and  vindicate 
his  course.  So,  when  President  Johnson  attempted  to  seize  the 
War  Department,  Stanton  determined  that  at  least  the  record  of 
how  the  Republic  had  been  rescued  should  be  preserved.  What 
was  done  for  its  safety  is  best  told  by  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson : 

On  this  telegraphic  record  Mr.  Stanton  depended  for  vindication.  It 
was  all  he  had  to  leave  for  his  defense,  and  all  he  had  to  show  how  he  was 
sustained  by  President  Lincoln.  Not  willing-  to  trust  this  history  to  the 
keeping  of  his  possible  successor,  General  Lorenzo  Thomas,  who  had  been 
appointed  secretary  of  war  ad  interim  by  President  Johnson,  but  which 
appointment  Mr.  Stanton  refused  to  recognize,  he  directed  me  to  get 
wagons  that  day  after  office  hours  and  have  all  the  chests  containing  the 
telegrams  put  into  the  vault  of  the  medical  museum  [the  old  Ford  theatre, 
where  President  Lincoln  was  assassinated],  retaining  the  key.  There  the 
chests  were  kept  until  after  the  impeachment  trial  of  President  Johnson, 
and  General  Schofield  had  been  made  secretary  of  war.  Then,  as  General 
Sherman  wanted  to  see  them,  on  Mr.  Stanton's  order,  I  gave  up  the  key 
and  the  chests  were  returned   to  the   Department. 

If  Stanton  was  jealous  of  this  telegraphic  history,  he  was  proud 
of  his  telegraphic  corps.     It  was,  he  declared  to  W.  J.  Dealy,  his 


222  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

"right  arm"  watching  and  guarding  his  armies  everywhere,  night 
and  day,  and  keeping  constantly  before  his  eyes  a  perfect  but  ever- 
changing  panorama  of  the  vast  battle-field  of  the  Union. 

After  the  war  closed  he  manifested  keen  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  his  former  detachment*  and,  whenever  he  met  them,  gave  evi- 
dence of  strong  personal  affection.  His  sentiments  were  recipro- 
cated, and  at  the  reunions  of  the  United  States  Military  Telegraph 
Corps,  since  his  death,  the  members  have  indulged  in  loving  re- 
membrances of  him ;  and  at  the  Pittsburg  reunion  of  1896  pre- 
liminary steps  were  taken  to  raise  funds  for  a  monument  to 
commemorate  the  worth  and  service  of  their  "former  Commander- 
in-Chief." 


*  OFFICE  U.  S.  MILITARY  TELEGRAPH, 

War  Department, 

Washington,  July  31,  18G6. 
W^ar  Department, 
D.  H.  BATES,  Assistant  Manager,  Department  of  the  Potomac; 
CHARLES  A.  TINKER,  Chief  Operator,  War  Department; 
ALBERT    B.    CHANDLER,    Cipher   and    Disbursing    Clerk,    War    De- 
partment; 
A.  H.  CALDWELL,  Chief  Operator,  Army  of  the  Potomac; 
DENNIS  DOREN,  Superintendent  of  Construction,  Department  of  the 

Potomac; 
FRANK  STEWART,  Cipher  Clerk.  War  Department; 
GEORGE  W.  BALDWIN,  Cipher  Clerk,  War  Department; 
RICHARD  O'BRIEN,  Chief  Operator,  Department  of  North  Carolina; 
GEORGE  D.  SHELDON,  Chief  Operator,  Fortress  Monroe,  Virginia; 
M.  V.  B.  BUELL,  Chief  Operator,  Delaware  and  Eastern  Shore  Line; 
JOHN  H.  EMERICK,  Chief  Operator,  Army  of  the  James; 
GENTLEMEN: 

I  have  been  instructed  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  present  to  each  of  you 
one  of  the  SILVER  WATCHES,  which  were  purchased  and  used  to  estab- 
lish uniform  time  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  marked  "U.  S.  MILITARY 
TELEGRAPH,"  as  an  acknowledgment  of  the  meritorious  and  valuable 
services  you  have  rendered  to  the  Government  during  the  war,  while  under 
my  direction,  as  an  employee  of  the  United  States  Military  Telegraph. 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  comply  with  these  instructions,  and  I 
will  take  this  occasion  to  thank  you,  for  myself,  for  your  faithful  perform- 
ance of  the  important  trusts  which  have  been  confided  to  you  in  the  various 
capacities  in  which  you  have  served,  and  especially  as  "Cipher  Operators." 

Yours  very  truly 

Thos.  T.  Eckert, 
Asst.  Secretary  of  War,  and  Supt.  U.  S.  Military  Telegraph. 


CHAPTER  XL. 
STILL  THE  AUTOCRAT— MILITARY  RAILROADS. 

The  Rebellion  was  the  first  great  war  in  which  military  rail- 
ways played  a  conspicuous  part,  and  their  feats  under  Stanton  were 
so  remarkable  that  several  European  governments  called  for  special 
reports  upon  them.  They  were  operated  in  twelve  States  and 
comprised  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  five  miles  of  lines  west 
to  Little  Rock,  south  to  Holly  Springs,  Decatur,  and  Atlanta,  and 
east  to  Maryland,  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  seaboard  of 
North  Carolina.  They  gave  employment  at  one  time  to  twenty-four 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty-four  persons,  who  operated  four 
hundred  and  nineteen  locomotives,  six  thousand  three  hundred  and 
thirty  cars,  and  thousands  of  gondolas.*  Their  crews  built  twenty- 
six  miles  of  bridges,  laid  six  hundred  and  forty-two  miles  of  new 
track,  expended  forty-three  million  dollars  in  cash,  and  saved  the 
Union  arms  from  many  a  disaster. 

Stanton's  fifteen  years  of  professional  experience  with  rail  and 
water  carriage  made  him  a  competent  judge  of  the  powers  and 
possibilities  of  this  great  branch  of  human  activity.  On  February 
11,  1862,  he  appointed  D.  C.  McCallum  "military  director  and  sup- 
erintendent of  railroads  in  the  United  States,  with  authority  to 
enter  upon,  take  possession  of,  hold,  and  use  all  railroads,  engines, 
cars,  locomotives,  equipment,  appendages,  and  appurtenances  that 
may  be  required  for  the  transport  of  troops,  ammunition,  and  mili- 
tary supplies  of  the  United  States,"  accompanying  the  order  with 
a  letter  saying:  "I  shall  expect  you  to  have  on  hand  at  all  times 
the  necessary  men  and  materials  to  enable  you  to  comply  promptly 
with  this  order,  and  there  must  be  no  failure  under  any  cir- 
cumstances." 

He  decided,  before  finally  determining  a  policy  of  land  car- 
riage, to   call   a   meeting  of   railroad   presidents   and   managers   in 


*A11  sold  or  returned  to  original  owners  by  Stanton's  order  of  August 
8,  1865. 


224  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Washington  on  February  20.  At  this  gathering  he  made  a  patriotic 
address,  appealing  to  the  railroads  to  do  their  full  share  toward 
sustaining  the  country  and  putting  down  the  Rebellion.  He  asked 
them  to  prepare  a  uniform  schedule  of  rates  for  Government  busi- 
ness and  to  be  ready  to  respond  to  the  sudden  calls  which  emer- 
gencies might  render  necessary.  His  speech  was  significant, 
intimating  that  no  exorbitant  bills  for  transporting  army  supplies 
would  be  allowed,  and  that  any  attempt  to  hinder  Government 
carriage  or  exact  robber  charges  would  result  in  the  seizure  of  the 
offending  railway;  "but,"  he  added,  "the  better  way  is  for  the 
railways  themselves  to  operate  in  the  public  interest,  and  I  expect, 
of  course,  they  will  do  so." 

He  also  suggested  a  permanent  organization  of  managers  and 
the  appointment  of  a  standing  committee  with  whom  he  could 
confer.  The  suggestion  was  adopted  and  Erastus  Corning,  Thomas 
L.  Jewett,  and  Samuel  M.  Felton  were  appointed  and  a  uniform 
rate  of  Government  transportation,  10  per  cent.,  under  the 
schedule,  was  agreed  to  and  maintained  for  three  years.  This  ar- 
rangement materially  improved  conditions,  but  as  none  of  the 
military  commanders  seemed  equal  to  the  task  of  repairing  and 
managing  the  railroads  which  he  was  seizing.  Stanton  summo.icd 
Herman  Haupt,  a  graduate  of  West  Point  and  a  railway  builder 
and  manager  of  the  very  highest  ability,  then  constructing  the 
Hoosac  Tunnel.  'W^hat  do  you  want,  and  how  long  will  I  be 
needed?"  he  inquired.     Stanton  replied: 

McClellan  is  on  the  Peninsula  operating  against  Richmond.  McDowell 
has  been  ordered  to  join  him  by  forced  marches,  but  he  cannot  do  so 
before  the  Fredericksburg  railroad  has  been  put  in  condition  to  transport 
munitions  and  supplies.  As  soon  as  he  can  cooperate  with  McClellan, 
Richmond  will  fall  and  the  war  will  end.  You  can  return  to  your  work  on 
the  Hoosac  Tunnel  in  three  or  four  weeks  and  if  the  war  is  not  ended  in 
three  months,  I  shall  resign. 

Haupt  answered  that  he  would  undertake  the  task  provided 
he  could  do  so  without  rank  or  title ;  be  required  to  wear  no  uni- 
form ;  be  allowed  no  salary  or  compensation  beyond  his  expenses, 
and  be  relieved  whenever  the  exigencies  of  the  time  had  been  pro- 
vided for.  The  conditions  were  satisfactory,  and  in  a  few  hours 
(on  April  23,  1862)  he  was  steaming  down  the  Potomac  to  carry 
out  instructions. 


STILL  THE  AUTOCRAT— MILITARY  RAILROADS  225 

With  crews  consisting  of  fresh  details  every  morning  of  one 
hundred  men  each  from  three  adjoining  regiments,  he  rebuilt  the 
Fredericksburg  railroad  in  twenty  days  and  with  like  crews  aston- 
ished the  world  by  erecting  a  bridge  four  hundred  feet  in  length 
and  ninety  feet  in  height  over  Potomac  Creek  and  crossing  it  with  a 
locomotive  in  nine  days,  taking  every  timber  from  its  stump  in  the 
surrounding  forests. 

On  May  28,  Stanton,  Lincoln,  and  other  officials  inspected  this 
achievement,  and  on  returning  Lincoln  said  to  the  Committee  on 
the  Conduct  of  the  War:  "That  man  Haupt  has  built  a  bridge  four 
hundred  feet  long  and  one  hundred  feet  high,  across  Potomac 
Creek,  on  which  loaded  trains  are  passing  every  hour,  and  upon  my 
word,  gentlemen,  there  is  nothing  in  it  but  cornstalks  and  bean- 
poles." 

The  Messaponax  bridge,  six  miles  from  Fredericksburg,  was 
burned  Monday  morning  and  at  noon  Haupt  and  his  men  had 
replaced  it.  The  Confederates  exclaimed  in  astonishment :  "The 
Yankees  can  build  bridges  faster  than  we  can  burn  them." 

Stanton,  on  May  28,  in  recognition  of  his  valuable  services, 
gave  to  Haupt  the  rank  of  colonel  and  appointed  him  chief  of  con- 
struction and  transportation  in  the  Department  of  the  Rappahan- 
nock, and  on  the  following  day  issued  orders  making  him 
independent  of  all  authority  save  that  of  the  Secretary  of  War. 
Being  thus  established  as  dictator,  Haupt  promptly  raised  a  corps 
of  his  own  which  was  commanded  by  commissioned  and  non-com- 
missioned officers  and  drilled  and  governed  the  same  as  the  military 
forces.  His  corps  constructed,  tore  down,  managed,  and  operated 
railways  as  if  he  owned  them.  This  annoyed  army  officers,  every 
one  of  whom  seemed  determined  to  manage  and  run  the  railways 
in  his  Department  to  suit  himself,  which  practise  invariably  re- 
sulted in  confusion  and  disaster.  At  the  time  he  assumed  charge, 
one  officer  was  giving  one  order  and  another  officer  was  giving 
another  order  on  different  parts  of  the  same  line,  so  that  frequently 
not  a  wheel  was  turning  or  an  empty  car  available,  greatly  to 
Stanton's  disgust  and  the  Government's  loss. 

During  Pope's  long  and  desperate  fight  in  August,  1862,  Stan- 
ton found  great  comfort  in  his  railway  autocrat,  who  acted  as 
president,  secretary  of  war,  and  military  commander,  forwarding 
supplies,  issuing  orders,  carrying  off  the  wounded,  advising  the 
War  Department,  telegraphing  to  Lincoln,  and   managing  things 


226  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

generally  with  ability  and  success  never  surpassed.  He  sent  oper- 
ators forward,  who,  armed  with  pocket  instruments,  passed  through 
the  lines  of  conflict  and  made  observations  and  reports  from  tree- 
tops.  "For  several  days  the  only  information  received  at  Wash- 
ington," says  Haupt,  "came  through  my  office."  Whenever  he 
brought  a  person  of  unusual  intelligence  out  of  the  heart  of  the 
conflict  he  rushed  him  by  special  locomotive  to  Washington  for  the 
purpose  of  enabling  Stanton  (who  remained  in  the  War  Office  every 
night)  to  secure  an  inside  view  of  the  situation,  the  doorkeeper 
having  orders  to  admit  Haupt's  messengers  "at  once  at  any  hour." 

When  he  returned  to  Washington  the  cabinet  was  in  session. 
"Come  in,"  shouted  Stanton,  embracing  him;  "you  shall  be  a 
brigadier-general."  Next  day  a  commission  as  brigadier-general 
and  director  of  all  military  railways  in  the  United  States  was  issued, 
clothing  him  with  extraordinary  powers.  A  special  order  declared 
that  "no  officer,  whatsoever  may  be  his  rank,"  could  interfere  with 
Haupt  or  his  men  without  being  "dismissed  from  the  service." 
Another  order  recited :  "The  railroads  are  entirely  under  your 
[Haupt's]   control.         *         *         *         Your  orders  are   supreme." 

These  "arbitrary  methods"  were  unavoidable,  as  military  com- 
manders proved  incapable  of  railway  management  and  private  com- 
panies were  not  always  able  or  willing  to  furnish  promptly  the 
facilities  of  which  the  army  was  frequently  in  sudden  need.  When 
the  army  had  outgrown  its  transportation  equipment,  Stanton  per- 
emptorily ordered  all  manufacturers  to  turn  over  whatever  locomo- 
tives and  cars  they  had  on  hand  complete  or  in  process  of  construc- 
tion, and  thus  secured,  without  negotiation  or  delay,  one  hundred 
and  forty  new  locomotives  and  two  thousand  five  hundred  cars. 

Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  of  the  New  York  and  Harlem  Railroad, 
attempted  unsuccessfully  to  prevent  his  new  locomotives  from 
being  thus  taken  from  the  Baldwin  works.  Stanton  informed  the 
Baldwins  to  proceed  as  ordered  and  he  would  protect  them  from 
harm,  and  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Vanderbilt  on  November  20,  1863: 

Your  letter  of  the  19th  received.  The  engines  referred  to  were  seized 
by  the  order  of  this  Department  from  a  paramount  necessity  for  the  supply 
of  the  armies  of  the  Cumberland.  They  are  absolutely  essential  to  the 
safety  of  those  armies  and  the  order  cannot  be  revoked.  Whatever  dam- 
ages your  company  may  sustain  the  Government  is  responsible  for,  but  the 
military  operations  are  superior  to  every  other  consideration.  This  is  a 
case  where  the  safety  and  support  of  an  army  depend  upon  the  exercise  of 
the  authority  of  the  Government  and  the  prompt  acquiescence  of  loyal  citi- 


Gen.  Herman  Haupt  (on  the  Kightj  and  His  Locomotive. 


'  STILL  THE  AUTOCRAT— MILITARY  RAILROADS  227 

zens.  I  hope,  therefore,  that  you  will  not  only  throw  no  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  forwarding  the  engines  to  Louisville,  but  use  your  well-known 
energy  in  aid  of  the  Department  to  hurry  them  forward. 

Before  the  close  of  the  war,  Haupt  returned  to  the  Hoosac 
Tunnel  and  was  succeeded  by  his  assistant,  Colonel  D.  C.  AIc- 
Callum,  who,  with  the  original  corps  and  the  same  autocratic 
authority  from  Stanton,  maintained  the  wonderful  nerve  and  effi- 
ciency which  had  been  created  by  his  predecessor.  The  manner 
in  which  he  transported,  under  Stanton's  orders,  twenty-three 
thousand  troops  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  Virginia  over 
the  mountains  to  Chattanooga,  stands  without  counterpart  in  mili- 
tary movements.  He  was  successful  because  Stanton  had  the 
wisdom  to  centralize  supreme  authority  in  him.  In  carrying  out 
instructions  in  this  case  McCallum  arrested  General  Carl  Schurz 
and  forcibly  sent  several  high  officers  to  the  rear  to  remain  until 
their  commands  were  ready  to  leave,  Stanton,  without  question  or 
inquiry,  upholding  every  act  by  telegraph. 

The  Bureau  of  Military  Railroads  covered  the  entire  field  of 
military  activity,  and  its  achievements  were  frequently  as  astound- 
ing as  they  were  decisive  and  valuable.*  The  basis  of  its  organiza- 
tion and  the  method  of  its  administration  are  monuments  to 
Stanton's  executive  resources.  Like  the  Alilitary  Telegraph,  it  was 
absolutely  independent  of  all  control  outside  of  his  own  will,  in- 
cluding even  that  of  the  President.  Hardly  a  commander  failed  to 
attempt  some  usurpation  of  authority  over  it  or  put  on  record 
some  childish  complaint  of  "dictation"  and  "interference  from 
Washington" — as  if  subalterns  in  the  field  could  be  greater  than 
the  executive  heads  of  the  nation ! 

Had  not  the  very  autocracy  of  which  they  complained  been 
assumed  and  held  by  a  single  master-hand  at  Washington,  thus 
unifying  the  purposes  and  synchronizing  the   movements   of  that 


*Besides  the  feats  mentioned,  the  Rappahannock  bridge  in  Virginia, 
625  feet  in  length  and  35  feet  in  height,  was  rebuilt  in  19  working  hours  and 
the  Chattahoochie  bridge,  740  feet  in  length  and  95  feet  in  altitude,  in  4^^ 
days!  Before  a  meeting  of  the  British  military  and  other  engineers  in 
London,  General  Haupt  explained  by  request  how  these  achievements 
were  accomplished.  The  Englishmen  were  so  much  impressed  by  the 
address  that  a  grand  banquet  in  his  honor  was  tendered  by  the  royal 
engineers. 


228  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

vital  branch  of  the  military  service,  tossing  armies  like  shuttle- 
cocks here  and  there  to  checkmate  the  enemy,  the  chaos  which 
Stanton  found  on  entering  the  cabinet  would  have  continued  and  the 
defeat  instead  of  the  victory  of  more  than  one  army  would  have 
been  recorded. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 
PRISONERS  OF  WAR— A  HEART-BREAKING  DUTY. 

On  entering  office  Stanton  found  no  provision  for  exchanging 
captives  or  the  relief  of  those  whose  deplorable  condition  in  con- 
finement was  appealing  to  the  conscience  of  the  nation.  Therefore, 
on  January  20,  1862,  he  appointed  Hamilton  Fish  and  Bishop  E.  R. 
Ames,  by  telegraph,  placing  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  their  credit,  to 
"provide  for  the  wants  and  comfort  of  prisoners  wherever  held," 
and  issued  an  order  declaring  that  "the  pay  of  all  soldiers  taken 
prisoners  shall  continue  as  long  as  they  shall  be  held  in  captivity, 
with  their  usual  rations." 

While  Ames  and  Fish  were  en  route  to  Richmond,  Judah  P. 
Benjamin,  Confederate  secretary  of  war,  sent  word  that  the  com- 
mission need  proceed  no  farther,  as  he  desired  to  effect  a  general 
exchange  of  prisoners.  The  commissioners  answered  that  they 
possessed  no  power  to  discuss  exchanges  and  asked  to  be  permitted 
to  proceed  on  their  humane  mission,  which  was  refused.  Thus  the 
difficult  question  of  a  general  exchange  came  sharply  to  the  front. 

Stanton  could  take  no  steps  that  might  place  the  rebellious 
States  on  such  an  equality  with  the  Government,  even  as  belliger- 
ents, as  would  afford  the  pretext  which  England  and  France  were 
seeking  to  recognize  the  Confederacy  as  an  independent  State. 

The  South,  for  that  very  reason,  was  extremely  anxious  to 
secure  a  written  cartel  of  exchange  that  named  in  exact  terms  the 
Confederate  States  as  a  party.  But  the  people,  unable  to  measure 
the  importance  of  this  vital  point,  clamored  loudly  for  such  ex- 
changes as  are  usual  when  two  hostile  nations  are  at  war,  and,  as 
the  Confederates  held  more  prisoners  than  the  United  States,  Stan- 
ton instructed  General  John  E.  Wool,  on  February  11 : 

Arrange  for  the  restoration  of  all  prisoners  to  their  homes,  on  fair 
terms  of  exchange,  man  for  man  and  officer  for  officer  of  equal  grade, 
assimilating  the  grades  of  the  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  when  neces- 
sary, and  agreeing  upon  equal  terms  for  the  number  of  men  or  officers  of 
inferior  grades   to  be   exchanged   for  any   of   higher   grade   when   occasion 


230  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

shall  arise.  That  all  surplus  prisoners  on  either  side  be  discharged  on 
parole,  with  the  agreement  that  any  prisoners  of  war  taken  by  the  other 
party  shall  be  returned  in  exchange  as  fast  as  captured,  and  this  system  be 
continued  while  hostilities  continue,  so  that  on  all  occasions  either  party 
holding  prisoners  shall  so  hold  them  on  parole  till  exchanged,  the  prisoners 
being  allowed  to  remain  in  their  own  region  until  the  exchange  is  effected. 
You  will  further  inform  whomever  it  may  concern,  that  all  of  the  pris- 
oners taken  on  board  of  vessels  or  otherwise  in  maritime  conflict  by  the 
power  of  the  United  States,  have  been  put  and  are  now  held  in  military 
custody  and  on  the  same  footing  as  other  prisoners  taken  in  arms. 

The  final  paragraph  was  regarded  as  an  important  concession 
to  the  Confederates,  the  North  having  in  captivity  as  "pirates"  for 
exemplary  punishment  Confederate  privateersmen  who  had  for- 
feited the  rights  of  war.*  General  Wool  soon  came  to  terms  with 
the  Confederate  General  Benjamin  Huger,  but  the  latter  insisted, 
since  the  Confederacy  was  not  specifically  named  in  the  cartel,  that 
each  party  "deliver  his  captives  free  of  expense  on  the  frontier." 
Wool  referred  this  demand  to  Stanton,  who  instantly  said,  "No,  it 
is  obnoxious  in  terms  and  inadmissible  in  import."  To  fix  a 
"frontier"  was  to  admit  the  existence  of  a  power  and  a  State  beyond 
that  frontier.  In  response  to  a  resolution  of  Congress  on  March  24, 
1862,  he  stated : 

A  late  proposition  for  a  new  arrangement  was  promptly  rejected  be- 
cause its  terms  involved  a  distinct  recognition  of  the  rebels  as  an  independ- 
ent belligerent  power.  Anxious  as  the  Department  is  to  release  prisoners 
held  in  captivity  by  the  rebels  and  restore  them  to  their  families  and  coun- 
try, all  will  recognize  the  paramount  duty  of  guarding  against  any  recog- 
nition of  the  enemy  otherwise  than  as  rebels  in  arms  against  the  Govern- 
ment. 

In  the  meantime  Grant  had  taken  nearly  fifteen  thousand  pris- 
oners at  Fort  Donelson  and  Congress  had  granted  money  to  Stan- 
ton for  feeding,  clothing,  and  nursing  Federal  captives.  G.  W. 
Randolph,  the  new  Confederate  secretary  of  war,  proposed  that 
each  side  appoint  a  commissary-general  to  distribute  aid  among 
and  look  after  his  own  people  in  captivity,  which  proposition  Stan- 

*On  April  17,  1861,  two  days  after  Lincoln's  call  for  troops,  Jefferson 
Davis  issued  a  proclamation  inviting  adventurers  on  the  sea  to  apply  for 
letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and  thus  sent  out  "pirates"  to  prey  on 
Northern  ships.  One  of  these,  the  Savannah,  was  captured  and  the  crew 
convicted  of  piracy  and  sentenced  to  death  on  the  ground  that  Davis  was 
not  "president"  of  any  known  or  recognized  government  and,  therefore, 
not  capable  of  issuing  valid  commissions  of  any  kind. 


A  HEART-BREAKING  DUTY  231 

ton  rejected  as  recognizing  the  Confederacy  as  a  government  with 
authority  to  send  officers  and  agents  to  another  country.  Besides, 
he  said,  Confederate  captives  were  provided  with  good  quarters, 
clothing,  and  enough  to  eat  and  required  no  special  commissary. 

On  July  12,  1862,  he  authorized  General  John  A.  Dix  to  "negoti- 
ate a  general  exchange  of  prisoners  with  the  enemy,  observing 
proper  caution  against  the  recognition  of  the  rebel  government." 
The  meeting  between  Dix  and  General  D.  H.  Hill  was  satisfactory, 
Stanton  again  telegraphing  on  July  16,  that  "no  distinction  will  be 
made  as  to  privateersmen,"  and  a  cartel  (General  Orders  142)  was 
signed  at  Haxall's  Landing,  Virginia,  on  July  22,  1862,  under  which 
exchanges  proceeded  satisfactorily  for  some  months,  the  designated 
points  of  delivery  being  Vicksburg,  Mississippi,  and  City  Point, 
near  Richmond,  Virginia,  unless  otherwise  agreed  by  commanding 
generals  after  a  given  battle. 

However,  on  December  24,  1862,  Jefiferson  Davis  issued  a 
proclamation  declaring  "Benjamin  F.  Butler  to  be  a  felon,  an  out- 
law, and  common  enemy  of  mankind  and  in  event  of  his  capture 
that  he  be  instantly  executed  by  hanging,"  and  ordering  "that  no 
commissioned  officer  of  the  United  States,  taken  captive,  shall  be 
released  on  parole  for  exchange  until  the  said  Butler  shall  have 
met  with  full  punishment  for  his  crimes."  He  also  placed  the  com- 
missioned officers  in  Butler's  command  in  the  same  category,  and 
ordered  all  Africans  taken  in  arms  to  be  turned  over  to  the  several 
States  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  the  laws  thereof  against 
insurrection.  Consequently,  on  December  30,  1862,  Stanton  "sus- 
pended the  parole  of  all  officers,  prisoners  of  war,"  and,  as  the 
proclamation  of  emancipation  had  taken  effect,  Davis  declared  on 
January  12,  1863,  that  every  commissioned  officer  of  the  United 
States  taken  captive  should  be  turned  over  to  the  several  States 
to  be  dealt  with  for  "inciting  servile  insurrection" — that  is,  to 
be  hanged ! 

Under  these  extreme  conditions  exchanges  necessarily  ceased. 
In  the  meantime  the  excess  of  captives  held  by  the  United  States 
had  increased ;  the  food  supply  in  the  South  had  become  low  and 
Confederate  credit  impaired.  Therefore  Robert  Ould,  Confederate 
agent  of  exchange,  broached  the  subject  anew,  and  Stanton  in 
reply  (April  18,  1863)  demanded  that  he  recant  Davis'  recent 
proclamation.  This  he  would  not  do,  he  declared,  if  the  captives 
on  either  side  "had  to  rot,  starve,  and  die." 


233  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

On  May  1,  1863,  the  Confederate  Congress  enacted  that  com- 
missioned officers  of  the  United  States  be  dealt  with  by  court- 
martial  ;  that  all  commissioned  Union  officers  in  command  of 
African  troops  be  held  guilty  of  inciting  servile  insurrection  and, 
when  captured,  put  to  death,  and  that  Africans  captured  in  arms  be 
turned  over  to  the  State  authorities  to  be  punished  for  insurrection 
— sold  into  slavery  or  put  to  death. 

Therefore,  on  May  25,  1863,  Stanton  issued  orders  to  exchange 
or  parole  no  more  Confederate  officers  and  to  "closely  confine"  and 
"strongly  guard"  all  who  had  been  paroled  or  who  might  thereafter 
be  captured,  and  instructed  Colonel  Ludlow  to  inform  Ould  that 
the  Federal  Government  would  retaliate  for  the  proposed  hanging 
of  Union  captives  who  had  commanded  colored  soldiers.  He 
pointed  out  also  that  the  Confederates  themselves  established  the 
precedent  of  enlisting  and  arming  Africans — first  in  Louisiana ; 
then  under  General  Albert  Pike  in  Arkansas,  and  later  by  the 
conscription  acts  of  their  State  legislatures,  and  finally,  that  they 
receipted  for  and  counted  in  exchange  the  Confederate  Africans 
captured  by  McClellan  at  the  battle  of  Antietam,  September  17, 
1862.  In  the  meantime.  Confederate  officers  like  General  W.  H.  F. 
Lee  were  held  as  hostages  for  the  safety  of  any  Union  officers  of 
colored  troops  that  might  be  captured. 

After  the  battles  of  Vicksburg  and  Gettysburg,  in  July,  1863, 
the  number  of  captives  (privates)  held  by  the  United  States  was 
greatly  in  excess  of  those  held  by  the  Confederates.  General  Grant 
paroled  his  entire  Vicksburg  capture  (except  officers)  of  thirty 
thousand  men  and  General  Banks  paroled  over  seven  thousand  at 
Port  Hudson ;  but,  as  immediately  afterwards  the  paroles  were 
discovered  fighting  under  Braxton  Bragg,  near  Chattanooga,  Stan- 
ton ordered  all  paroled  captives  "reduced  to  actual  possession"  as 
soon  as  possible.  About  this  time  Governor  Tod  of  Ohio  informed 
him  that  Confederate  captives  desired  to  be  paroled  rather  than 
exchanged,  in  order  to  avoid  further  military  duty,  and  he  re- 
sponded : 

If  they  are  paroled,  great  complaint  is  made  by  the  friends  of  our 
prisoners  in  the  South.  No  trust  can  be  placed  in  their  paroles.  It  is 
cheaper  to  guard  them  where  they  are,  for  the  rebel  government  will 
release  them  by  pretended  law  from  their  parole  and  force  all  who  do  not 
go  voluntarily,  back  into  the  ranks,  so  that  we  shall  simply  have  to  fight 
and  take  them  again. 


A  HEART-BREAKING  DUTY  233 

The  entire  business  of  exchanging  being  now  at  a  standstill, 
Ould  resumed  his  efforts  to  have  "citizens"  included  in  the  ex- 
change, and,  in  order  to  have  equivalents,  sent  raiders  into  the 
border  States  to  "capture"  them — women,  children,  babes,  sick,  and 
aged — reporting  to  the  Confederate  Secretary  of  War,  on  Septem- 
ber 21,  1863:  "We  must  have  a  Northern  pressure  to  assist  us. 
That  can  only  be  obtained  by  holding  on  to  every  Northern  Union 
man."  By  "Northern  pressure"  he  meant  clampr  in  the  North  to 
force  Stanton  to  accede  to  terms  of  exchange  which  involved 
recognition  of  the  Confederacy. 

In  October,  1863,  General  Meredith  recommended  reducing 
Confederate  captives  to  "conditions  similar  to  those  of  Union  cap- 
tives in  rebel  prisons,"  and  on  November  9,  finding  himself  unable 
to  deal  with  Confederate  officials  or  reach  Union  captives  with 
relief,  Stanton  approved  the  recommendation.  However,  General 
E.  A.  Hitchcock,  in  charge  of  exchanges,  protested,  declaring  that 
"human  nature  would  not  stand  such  treatment  without  revolt  and 
that  the  Federal  guards  in  charge  of  Confederate  captives  were 
insufficient  in  number  to  suppress  such  a  revolt."  The  suggestion 
was  not  carried  out. 

As  Union  captives  were  perishing  like  flies,  Stanton  ordered, 
on  November  12,  twenty-four  thousand  rations  to  Libby  prison 
with  instructions  to  Captain  Forbes  to  issue  them  if  permitted  to 
do  so.  Ould  returned  the  letter  saying  he  himself  would  issue  the 
rations,  concluding:  "If  you  are  not  satisfied,  you  can  take  back 
your  rations  and  withhold  any  in  the  future." 

On  the  12th  of  December  the  Confederates  notified  Stanton 
that  they  would  receive  no  more  supplies  for  Federal  captives,* 
although,  according  to  their  own  inspectors,  such  captives,  for 
want  of  food,  shelter,  and  clothing,  were  dying  at  an  appalling  rate. 

The  rage  of  the  North  turned  with  redoubled  fury  upon  Stan- 
ton for  not  proceeding  with  exchanges  regardless  of  technicalities. 


*When  his  agents  for  the  distribution  of  clothing  and  supplies  were 
excluded  from  the  Confederate  prisons,  and  Northern  contributions  were 
consumed  by  the  hungry  Confederates  before  reaching  the  captives  at 
Andersonville,  Belle  Isle,  and  Salisbury,  Stanton  instructed  Colonel  W.  P. 
Wood  to  find  a  way  to  enter  the  Southern  stockades  and  distribute  among 
the  prisoners  there  several  millions  of  Confederate  money  which  had  been 
confiscated  by  him  in  the  Old  Capitol  Prison.  Dressed  as  a  Confederate 
officer,  Wood  succeeded  in  obeying  orders  and  the  captives  used  the  funds 
thus  secured  to  considerable  advantage. 


234  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

He  began  despatching,  therefore,  in  detachments  of  five  hundred, 
Confederate  sick  and  wounded  to  be  specially  exchanged  for  a  like 
number  of  like  character.  Ould  made  the  exchange,  but,  on  Decem- 
ber 28,  wrote  that  he  would  make  no  more  deliveries  unless  a 
complete  general  exchange  should  be  agreed  upon  and  carried  out, 
and  General  Lee  declined  making  exchanges  for  his  own  army  for 
the  same  reason — a  general  agreement  or  nothing. 

General  Butler  appealed  to  Stanton  for  authority  to  retaliate 
upon  the  Confederates  in  kind,  declaring  that,  if  permitted,  he  would 
"insure  the  safety  of  every  prisoner  that  may  fall  into  rebel  hands," 
and  that  "for  every  wrong  done  to  a  Union  soldier"  there  would  be 
a  "day  of  mourning"  in  the  South !  Stanton  did  not  grant  the 
authority,  but  on  April  17,  1864,  ordered  negotiations  in  relation  to 
exchanges  to  be  suspended,  informing  the  Confederates  that  "unless 
every  man — white,  black,  or  red — who  wore  the  uniform  of  a  soldier 
of  the  United  States  when  captured,  should  be  accorded  all  rights 
due  to  prisoners  of  war,  no  more  rebels  would  be  exchanged  or 
paroled." 

The  Confederates  themselves  were  starving  and  their  armies 
decimating,  yet  their  notions  concerning  the  African  in  arms  were 
such  that  they  would  not  recognize  him  as  a  soldier  for  exchange 
or  parole,  thus,  Stanton  suggested,  "putting  a  higher  value  on  him 
than  on  a  man  of  thefr  own  race." 

Even  when  the  North  held  about  fifty  thousand  and  the  South 
thirteen  thousand  captives,  the  insurgents  would  not  "jump"  ac- 
counts if  the  exchange — thirteen  thousand  for  fifty  thousand — must 
include  Africans.  General  Hitchcock  reported  to  Stanton  that  the 
insurgent  agent,  Ould,  was  literally  unable  to  exchange  Africans 
"because  not  a  single  colored  soldier  or  officer  of  colored  troops  was 
ever  permitted  to  reach  his  hands,"  the  former  being  "sold  into 
slavery,  put  to  work,  or  shot  and  hung"  before  reaching  a  spot 
where  they  could  be  exchanged. 

Finally,  in  their  distress,  the  insurgents  offered  to  surrender 
Federal  sick  and  wounded  without  equivalents.  The  offer  was 
accepted  on  April  20,  1864,  and  the  hospitals,  as  Ould  says,  were 
"searched  for  the  worst  cases."  They  were  taken  to  Annapolis  and 
photographed  and  inspected  by  a  committee  of  Congress  as  re- 
quested by  Stanton,  who,  in  his  order  of  May  4,  declared : 

The  enormity  of  the  crime  committed  by  the  rebels  toward  our  pris- 
oners for  the  last  several  months  is  not  known  or  realized  by  our  people, 


A  HEART-BREAKING  DUTY  235: 

and  cannot  but  fill  with  horror  the  civilized  world  when  the  facts  are  fully 
revealed.  There  appears  to  have  been  a  deliberate  system  of  savage  and 
barbarous  treatment  and  starvation,  the  result  of  which  will  be  that  few  if 
any  of  the  prisoners  that  have  been  in  their  hands  will  ever  again  be  in  a 
condition  to  render  any  service,  or  even  to  enjoy  life. 

At  this  moment  the  massacre  at  Fort  Pillow,  in  which  the 
insurgent  victors  slaughtered  captives  as  they  surrendered,  had  so 
greatly  enraged  the  North  that  Lincoln  sought  Stanton's  opinion 
as  to  what  course  would  probably  check  such  awful  barbarities.  On 
May  5,  1864,  Stanton  responded  with  this  extremely  severe  plan : 

First — That  of  the  rebel  officers  now  held  as  prisoners  by  the  United 
States  there  should  be  selected  by  lot  a  number  equal  to  the  number  of 
persons  ascertained  to  have  been  massacred  at  Fort  Pillow,  who  shall 
immediately  be  placed  in  close  confinement  as  hostages  to  await  such 
further  action  as  may  be  determined. 

Second — That  Generals  Forrest  and  Chalmers  and  all  officers  and  men 
known,  or  who  may  hereafter  be  ascertained,  to  have  been  concerned  in  the 
massacre  at  Fort  Pillow  be  excluded,  by  the  President's  special  order,  from 
the  benefit  of  his  amnesty,  and  also  that  they,  by  his  order,  be  exempted 
from  all  privilege  of  exchange  or  other  rights  as  prisoners  of  war,  and 
shall,  if  they  fall  into  our  hands,  be  subjected  to  trial  and  such  punishment 
as  may  be  awarded  for  their  barbarous  and  inhuman  violation  of  the  laws 
of  war  toward  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  United  States  at  Fort  Pillow. 

Third — That  the  rebel  authorities  at  Richmond  be  notified  that  the 
prisoners  so  selected  are  held  as  hostages  for  the  delivery  up  of  Generals 
Forrest  and  Chalmers  and  those  concerned  in  the  massacre  at  Fort  Pillow, 
or  to  answer  in  their  stead,  and  in  case  of  their  non-delivery  within  a 
reasonable  time,  to  be  specified  in  the  notice,  such  measures  will  be  taken  in 
reference  to  the  hostages,  by  way  of  retributory  justice  for  the  massacre  of 
Fort  Pillow,  as  are  justified  by  the  laws  of  civilized  warfare. 

Fourth — That  after  the  lapse  of  a  reasonable  time  for  the  delivery  up 
of  Chalmers,  Forrest,  and  those  concerned  in  the  massacre,  the  President 
proceed  to  take  against  the  hostages  above  selected  such  measures  as  may, 
under  the  state  of  things  then  existing,  be  essential  for  the  protection  of 
Union  soldiers  from  such  savage  barbarities  as  were  practised  at  Fort 
Pillow  and  to  compel  the  rebels  to  observe  the  laws  of  civilized  warfare. 

Fifth — That  the  practise  of  releasing,  without  exchange  of  equivalent, 
rebel  prisoners  taken  in  battle  be  discontinued,  and  no  such  immunity  be 
extended  to  rebels  while  our  prisoners  are  undergoing  ferocious  barbarity  or 
the  more  horrible  death  of  starvation. 

Sixth — That  precisely  the  same  rations  and  treatment  be  henceforth 
practised  in  reference  to  the  whole  number  of  rebel  officers  remaining  in 
our  hands  as  are  practised  against  either  soldiers  or  officers  in  our  service 
held  by  the  rebels. 


236  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

My  reasons  for  selecting  the  officers  instead  of  the  privates  for  retal- 
iatory punishment  are:  First,  because  the  rebels  have  selected  white 
officers  of  colored  regiments  and  excluded  them  from  the  benefit  of  the 
laws  of  war  for  no  other  reason  than  that  they  command  special  troops,  and 
that,  having  thus  discriminated  against  the  officers  of  the  United  States 
service,  their  officers  should  be  held  responsible  for  the  discrimination; 
and.  Second,  because  it  is  known  that  a  large  portion  of  the  privates  in  the 
rebel  army  are  forced  there  by  conscription,  and  are  held  in  arms  by  terror 
and  rigorous  punishment  from  their  own  officers.  The  whole  weight  of 
retaliatory  measures,  therefore,  should,  in  my  opinion,  be  made  to  fall  upon 
the  officers  of  the  rebel  army,  more  especially  as  they  alone  are  the  class 
whose  feelings  are  at  all  regarded  in  the  rebel  States  or  who  can  have  any 
interest  or  influence  in  bringing  about  more  humane  conduct  on  the  part 
of   the    rebel    authorities. 

A  serious  objection  against  the  release  of  prisoners  of  war  who  apply 
to  be  enlarged  is  that  they  belong  to  influential  families,  who,  through 
representatives  in  Congress  and  other  influential  persons,  are  enabled  to 
make  interest  with  the  Government.  They  are  the  class  who,  instead  of 
receiving  indulgences,  ought,  in  my  opinion,  to  be  made  to  bear  the 
heaviest  burden  of  the  war  brought  upon  them  by  their  own  crimes. 

On  receiving  the  foregoing  opinion  Lincoln  promised  the 
Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  that  if  the  testimony  about 
to  be  taken  should  prove  the  charges  made  against  the  Confederate 
prison  officials  and  the  commander  at  Fort  Pillow,  he  would  "en- 
force the  most  energetic  measures  of  retaliation." 

While  evidence  against  the  offenders  was  being  gathered,  the 
fortunes  of  war  became  so  palpably  favorable  to  the  Union  that 
Stanton  modified  his  views  and  advised  punishment  through  regu- 
larly constituted  tribunals  at  the  close  of  the  conflict.  That  policy 
was  adopted.* 

During  this  time  semi-official  British  journals  had  been  seeking 
to  counteract  the  influence  of  the  belief  in  Europe  that  Union  cap- 
tives were  being  starved  in  insurgent  prisons,  and  succeeded  in 
having  bazaars  opened  in  England  to  raise  money — not  for  the 
Union  captives  whose  needs  were  so  distressing,  but  for  Confeder- 
ate prisoners  who  were  housed  and  fed  abundantly!  When  seventy- 
five  thousand  dollars  had  been  accumulated,  the  British  ask'ed  per- 
mission to  send  agents  for  its  distribution.     "Almighty  God!  No!" 


*Captain  Henry  Wirz  was  executed  at  Washington  on  November  10, 
1865,  for  cruelties  perpetrated  by  him  on  captives  at  Andersonville.  Causes 
of  death  of  Union  captives  were  assigned  by  the  insurgents  as  follows: 
"Wounds,  776;  disease,  12,836;  other  known  causes,  863;  not  listed  [shot], 
100;  unknown  causes  [starvation  and  exposure],  11,773;  total,  26,408." 


A  HEART-BREAKING  DUTY  237 

shouted  Stanton,  and  Secretary  Seward  informed  the  American 
minister  in  London  that  the  Confederate  captives  were  not  in  need 
of  aid ;  that  English  agents  would  not  be  permitted  in  our  prisons 
and  that  there  could  be  no  correspondence  on  the  subject  with  the 
British  authorities. 

In  August,  General  Grant  suggested  to  Stanton  that  "under  no 
circumstances  should  he  permit  General  Foster  to  exchange  cap- 
tives, as  exchanges  simply  reinforce  the  enemy  at  once  while  we  do 
not  get  benefit  from  those  received  for  two  or  three  months  and 
lose  the  majority  entirely." 

In  September  J.  A.  Seddon,  Confederate  secretary  of  war, 
favored  effecting  exchanges  regardless  of  technical  terms,  saying: 
"We  get  rid  of  feeding  and  guarding  that  many  prisoners  and  we 
give  that  many  votes  against  Lincoln's  [and  for  McClellan's]  elec- 
tion." Ould  objected  to  the  proposal  because  it  "would  tend  to 
weaken  the  pressure  now  bearing  upon  Lincoln  which  I  doubt  not 
will  very  soon  force  him  into  a  general  exchange." 

On  October  7,  1864,  Ould  wrote  to  Stanton  suggesting  ar- 
rangements by  which  each  might  furnish  supplies  to  the  captives 
held  by  the  other  side.  Stanton  agreed,  granting  permission  to  the 
Confederates  to  buy  anything  wanted  (except  Federal  uniforms) 
from  the  United  States  quartermasters,  at  Government  prices,  and 
to  pay  in  cotton,  the  cotton  to  be  carried  free  in  Federal  transports 
from  Mobile  or  New  Orleans  to  New  York.  Knowing  that  the 
Confederates  held  only  a  few  captives  compared  with  the  number 
held  by  the  North,*  Stanton  proposed  also  to  exchange  prisoners 
as  far  as  the  South  could  make  deliveries  and  support  the  surplus 
in  confinement  at  Federal  expense. 

The  proposition  was  not  accepted,  but  when  Ould  asked 
whether  such  supplies  as  the  South  might  be  able  to  purchase  with 


*The  total  number  of  captives  taken  by  each  side  during  hostilities  is 

shown  in  the  following: 


Federals. 

Confederate. 

Died   in   prison, 

26,249 

26,774 

Released   on  oath, 

71,889 

Exchanged  and  paroled, 

154,059 

350,367 

Illegally  paroled, 

1,097 

Escaped, 

2,696 

2,098 

Joined    Confederate   Army, 

3,170 

Joined  Union  Army, 

5,452 

Unaccounted   for, 

3,084 

Recaptured, 

17 

Total,  187,288  459,664 


238  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

cotton  could  also,  like  the  cotton,  be  delivered  "free  of  expense," 
Stanton  generously  replied  affirmatively.  Food,  clothing,  and  medi- 
cine from  the  North  were  then  poured  into  Richmond,  Charleston, 
Andersonville,  and  other  Confederate  prisons,  but  the  death-rate 
among  the  Federal  captives  continued  to  be  frightfully  large  for 
the  reason,  agents  reported,  that  the  contributions  were  intercepted 
and  consumed  by  the  insurgents,  who  were  almost  equally  hungry. 

The  temper  of  the  North  was  roused  to  vengeful  heat  by  these 
reports,  and  in  January,  1865,  Congress  was  driven  to  give  atten- 
tion to  the  matter.  A  resolution  calling  on  Stanton  for  information 
was  passed,  but  not  until  it  had  been  made  the  occasion  of  fully 
explaining  and  vindicating  his  entire  course. 

On  February  11,  1865,  at  the  close  of  the  debate  in  Congress, 
General  Grant  testified  before  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the 
War  that  "he  did  not  think  it  just  to  the  men  who  had  to  fight  our 
battles  to  reinforce  the  enemy  with  thirty  or  forty  thousand  strong 
and  disciplined  troops  at  that  time,"  and  explained  that  the  Con- 
federate captives  were  forced  back  into  service  as  soon  as  released 
while  not  half  of  the  Federal  prisoners  could  ever  re-enter  the  army 
and  none  of  them  under  one  or  two  months.  He  also  declared  that, 
except  for  the  sufferings  of  the  Union  prisoners  in  the  Confederate 
prisons,  there  would  have  been  no  exchanges  at  all,  thus  fully 
vmdicating  Stanton's  course. 

In  January,  1868,  while  Stanton's  suspension  by  President 
Johnson  was  under  consideration  in  executive  session  of  the  Senate, 
the  entire  matter  of  exchanges  was  violently  attacked  by  the 
Democrats.  On  the  request  of  Senator  Fessenden  of  Maine,  Stan- 
ton furnished  a  written  explanation  of  his  course,  especially  describ- 
ing his  unceasing  efforts  to  "provide  for,  relieve,  and  liberate  our 
prisoners,"  but  it  was  never  given  to  the  public.  The  suspension  of 
exchanges,  he  said,  was  forced  upon  him  by  the  flagrant  abrogation 
of  the  cartel;  subjecting  Union  officers  to  the  penalty  of  death  for 
commanding  colored  troops;  refusing  to  release  citizens  (non-com- 
batants) captured  in  the  loyal  States ;  releasing  from  parole  and 
returning  to  battle  (40,000)  soldiers  captured  by  Grant  at  Vicks- 
burg  and  Port  Hudson ;  condemning  colored  prisoners  to  death  and 
"deliberately  starving  Union  captives  in  rebel  mews." 

Technically  the  South  was  always  willing  to  exchange,  but 
never  upon  terms  that  Stanton  could  accept,  save  from  a  humani- 
tarian standpoint — and  there  is  little  that  is  humanitarian  in  war. 


A  HEART-BREAKING  DUTY  239 

He  was  well  informed  concerning  the  unspeakable  horrors  of  the  in- 
surgent prisons ;  he  knew  that  the  nation's  heart  was  wrung  with 
anguish  and  that  he  was  cursed  by  thousands  of  his  countrymen; 
yet  he  knew  also  that  in  times  of  war  all  war  matters  must  be 
managed  upon  a  war  basis,  and  that  to  accept  the  terms  dictated 
by  the  Confederates  meant  a  prolongation  of  the  Rebellion,  foreign 
intervention,  and  possibly  a  divided  Union. 

Though  his  soul  was  on  fire  and  the  people's  heart  was  break- 
ing, he  resolutely  planned  and  executed  solely  with  reference  to 
the  future  glories  of  a  perpetually  reunited  Republic,  with  all  the 
splendors  of  its  race  development,  industrial  advancement,  general 
enlightenment,  and  social  and  political  freedom  in  view ;  and  history 
says  now  that  he  was  right. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 
RAISING  TROOPS— FEARFUL  DRAFT-RIOTS. 

To  Stanton's  marked  success  in  developing  the  full  fighting 
strength  of  the  North  is  largely  due  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 
It  made  him  fame  but  not  friends,  for  he  laid  an  iron  hand  upon 
every  community,  if  not  upon  every  household. 

On  April  3,  1862,  seeing  that  to  depend  upon  volunteers  to 
recruit  the  armies  transferred  the  preponderance  of  voting  strength 
to  the  stay-at-home  communities,  which,  being  hostile  to  the  war 
policy  of  the  nation,  did  not  promote  enlistments  or  vote  supplies, 
he  ordered  all  recruiting  suspended  and  the  officers  sent  to  the 
front.  On  August  4,  1862,  he  issued  the  President's  call  for  three 
hundred  thousand  militia  apportioned  equitably  among  the  States, 
following  a  proclamation  for  three  hundred  thousand  volunteers  to 
fill  up  old  regiments,  deficiencies  in  volunteers  from  any  State  to 
be  filled  by  draft.  A  great  hegira  to  Canada  and  Europe  followed, 
which  Stanton  checked  by  the  famous  "stay-at-home"  order  of 
August  8,  1862,  declaring  that  "no  citizen  liable  to  be  drafted  into 
the  militia  shall  be  allowed  to  go  to  a  foreign  country,"  and  instruct- 
ing the  military  to  arrest  whoever  might  undertake  it — which  raised 
a  yell  of  "copperhead"  rage  from  ocean  to  ocean. 

Under  this  call  the  individual  States  inaugurated  drafts,  but 
they  were  ineffective.  Less  than  eighty-five  thousand  out  of  three 
hundred  thousand  were  drawn  and  hardly  a  full  regiment  reached 
the  front.  The  States  were  unable  to  deliver  the  drafted  men,  and 
many  of  their  executives  and  supreme  courts  entertained  peculiar 
notions  of  State  rights.  In  Wisconsin  the  draft  was  attended  By 
noting.  When  arrested  by  Federal  marshals,  the  rioters  sued  out 
State  writs  of  habeas  corpus,  which  General  Elliott  refused  to  obey. 
The  matter  was  taken  to  the  State  supreme  court,  which  promptly 
decided  the  draft  invalid  and  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  and  declaration  of  martial  law  illegal,  and  issued  an  attach- 
ment for  General  Elliott. 


RAISING  TROOPS— FEARFUL  DRAFT-RIOTS  241 

Stanton,  greatly  disturbed  lest  other  States  should  imitate  this 
example,  sent  Senator  T.  O.  Howe  to  Madison  to  ask  the  Wisconsin 
court  to  reopen  the  case.  A  rehearing  was  granted  in  which  Howe's 
argument  was  such  as  to  secure  a  modified  decision  on  March  25, 
1863,  which  upheld  the  draft  and  denied  the  writs  of  habeas  corpus. 
Thereupon  Stanton  telegraphed  to  Senator  Howe : 

I  thank  you  with  exceeding  great  joy  for  your  telegram  of  the  25th, 
just  received.  It  will  do  much  to  correct  the  evil  occasioned  by  the  action 
of  your  supreme  court  last  fall.  Accounts  from  all  parts  of  the  country 
show  that  the  national  spirit  is  growing  stronger  and  stronger. 

A  Federal  draft,  based  on  a  Federal  enrollment  under  the  act 
of  March  3,  1863,  took  the  place  of  further  State  drafts,  but  col- 
lisions, legal  interruptions,  and  riots  attended  its  drawings  more 
numerously  than  before.  Calls  came  to  Stanton  simultaneously 
from  two  hundred  cities,  counties,  and  towns  in  Pennsylvania,  New 
York,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Wisconsin,  and  Massachusetts  for  troops  to 
quell  uprisings,  to  which  he  responded  with  marshals  or  soldiers. 

In  New  York  City  the  disturbance  assumed  serious  propor- 
tions. Governor  Seymour  first  alleged  that  the  draft  was  "unex- 
pected," then  that  the  enrollment  was  fraudulent,  and  finally  that 
the  drawing  must  be  deferred  until  the  "constitutionality"  of  the 
law  creating  it  could  be  "tested." 

"Ah,"  retorted  Stanton,  "it  is  the  constitution  and  not  the 
country  that  Mr.  Seymour  is  anxious  about." 

On  July  11,  1863,  when  the  drawing  began,  the  provost 
marshal's  quarters  in  New  York  were  sacked  and  the  wheels,*  rolls, 
and  draft  paraphernalia  burned.  The  ofifice  of  the  Tribune  was 
partly  demolished,  and  Horace  Greeley,  its  editor,  pursued  to  the 
home  of  a  friend  ;  the  house  of  Henry  J.  Raymond  of  the  Times  was 
sacked ;  the  residence  of  Postmaster  Wakeman  and  the  police  sta- 
tion at  Eighty-sixth   Street   were   mobbed  and  burned;  the  African 


♦Enrollment  for  a  draft  consists  in  making  a  book  list  of  all  males 
between  the  ages  of  18  and  45,  with  each  name  also  written  on  a  card,  all 
cards  being  stored  away  in  packages  by  towns,  wards,  or  districts.  In 
making  the  draft  the  cards  for  a  given  district  are  placed  in  a  wheel — 
occasionally  in  a  box — and  as  the  wheel  turns  a  blind-folded  person  draws 
them  out  one  after  another  until  the  required  quota  from  that  district  has 
been  filled.  The  drawn  cards  are  canceled  and  filed  away  and  those 
remaining  are  stored  for  use  at  the  succeeding  draft. 


242  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

orphan  asylum  was  bombarded  and  the  firemen  were  kept  at  bay 
while  it  was  being  consumed  by  flames ;  negroes  were  chased  out 
of  town,  stoned,  beaten,  and  hanged ;  many  business  houses  were 
looted  and  fired ;  Stanton  was  hanged  in  effigy  on  Forty-sixth  Street, 
where  Colonel  O'Brien  was  dragged  from  his  horse  and  stoned  to 
death  and  his  frightfully  mangled  corpse  strung  to  a  lamp  post! 

On  July  13,  the  third  day  of  the  riot,  the  draft  was  temporarily 
suspended  and  the  mob,  which  had  been  led  by  Seymour's  political 
adherents,  after  cheering  for  half  an  hour  in  front  of  General  Mc- 
Clellan's  residence,  dispersed.  The  principal  orator,  "Colonel" 
Andrews,  was  arrested,  tried,  and  sent  to  prison.  Stanton,  in  the 
meantime,  had  ordered  troops  forwarded  to  New  York,  telegraph- 
ing to  Governor  Seymour: 

Eleven  New  York  regiments  are  relieved  and  are  at  Frederick,  Mary- 
land, and  will  be  forwarded  to  New  York  as  fast  as  transportation  can  be 
furnished  to  them.  Please  signify  to  me  anything  you  may  desire  to  have 
done  by  the  Department.  Whatever  means  are  at  its  disposal  shall  be  at 
your  command  for  the  purpose  of  restoring  order  in  New  York. 

Seymour,  who  two  months  before  had  refused  Stanton's  re- 
quest for  a  personal  conference  concerning  the  draft,  did  not 
"signify"  anything  that  he  wanted  done  to  "restore  order  in  New 
York" ;  and  General  John  A.  Dix,  the  chief  in  local  command — with 
General  E.  R.  S.  Canby  under  him  and  General  B.  F.  Butler  in 
reserve — was  ordered  to  prepare  to  assert  national  supremacy. 

James  T.  Brady,  the  eminent  New  York  lawyer,  wrote  to  Stan- 
ton that  he  feared  a  renewal  of  the  riot  on  a  more  extensive  scale 
and  suggested  that  the  Government  propose  to  join  Seymour  in 
submitting  the  conscription  law  to  the  New  York  court  of  appeals. 
Stanton  replied  that  he  had  always  been  willing  to  submit  the  act 
to  judicial  scrutiny,  but  the  Federal  courts  alone  had  competent 
jurisdiction  over  questions  arising  under  acts  of  Congress,  con- 
cluding: 

In  regard  to  addressing  Mr.  Seymour  on  the  question:  If  the 
National  executive  must  negotiate  with  State  executives  in  relation  to  the 
execution  of  an  act  of  Congress,  then  the  problem  which  the  Rebellion 
aims  to  solve  is  already  determined.  The  Rebellion  started  upon  the 
theory  that  there  is  no  National  Government  but  only  an  agency  deter- 
minable at  the  will  of  the  respective  States.  The  governor  of  New  York 
stands  to-day  on  the  platform  of  Slidell,  Davis,  and  Benjamin;  and  if  he  is 
to  be  the  judge  of  whether  the  conscription  act  is  constitutional  and  may 


RAISING  TROOPS— FEARFUL  DRAFT-RIOTS  243 

be  enforced  or  resisted  as  he  and  other  State  authorities  may  decide,  then 
the  Rebellion  is  consummated  and  the  National  Government  abolished. 

Having  by  temperate  and  careful  correspondence  drawn  Sey- 
mour into  a  written  record,  General  Dix,  on  August  12,  reported: 

We  are  of  opinion  that  the  draft  can  safely  commence  in  this  city  on 
Monday,  with  a  sufficient  force,  but  there  ought  to  be  10,000  in  the  city 
and  harbor.  General  Canby  has  now  5,000.  Governor  Seymour's  letters 
have  increased  the  dissatisfaction  and  multiplied  the  chances  of  collision, 
and  there  is  but  little  doubt  that  he  will  do  all  in  his  power  to  defeat  the 
draft,  short  of  forcible  resistance  to  it,  I  am  constrained  to  believe  that 
the  whole  moral  influence  of  the  executive  power  of  the  State  will  be 
thrown  against  the  execution  of  the  law  *  *  *  j^^j  ^  case  may 
arise  in  which  the  military  power  of  the  State  will  be  employed  to  defeat  ii. 

"Very  well,"  said  Stanton,  finishing  the  letter,  "if  I  must  I 
will  whip  Seymour,  too,"  and  immediately  forwarded  the  five 
thousand  additional  troops  asked  for.  The  draft  was  concluded 
v/ithout  further  bloodshed,  drawing  thousands  of  "copperheads" 
into  the  service. 

At  Danville,  Illinois,  many  persons  were  killed  by  the  anti-war 
party,  and  at  Lawrence,  Kansas,  which  was  completely  sacked, 
nearly  two  hundred  persons  were  slaughtered,  two  million  dollars 
in  property  was  burned,  and  all  the  records,  papers,  and  enrollment 
lists  of  the  provost  marshal's  office  were  destroyed. 

In  Pennsylvania  the  first  conscription  was  "tested"  before  the 
State  supreme  court  and  declared  unconstitutional,  a  strong  anti- 
war opinion  being  given  by  Judge  G.  W.  Woodward  in  the  case  of 
Kneedler  vs.  Lane.  The  Federal  court  reversed  this  decision,  al- 
though both  judges  of  the  district  to  which  it  was  appealed  were 
Democrats.  Judge  Woodward  was  then  nominated  for  governor 
against  Andrew  G.  Curtin.  George  B.  McClellan,  from  his  retreat 
in  New  Jersey,  still  holding  a  commission  as  a  general  in  the  army 
though  not  trusted  with  a  command,  began  to  write  letters  in  sup- 
port of  Judge  Woodward,  saying  his  "election  was  called  for  by  the 
interests  of  the  nation."  Thereupon  Stanton  threw  the  entire 
weight  of  his  influence  in  favor  of  Curtin,  who  was  triumphantly 
elected. 

There  was  turbulence  in  other  States  but  it  was  of  minor  im- 
portance. In  the  meantime  recruiting  was  being  carried  on  by 
the  governors  in  order  to  reduce  the  ratio  of  conscription.  Most 
of  them  wanted  to  manage  both  processes  (recruiting  and  drafting) 


244  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

according  to  their  own  notions.*  Some  of  them  demanded  that 
drafts  be  made  by  counties ;  some  that  they  be  based  upon  a  count 
of  actual  population  instead  of  the  number  of  men  of  military  age; 
some  wanted  to  recruit  or  draft  for  certain  generals  only,  as  Sigel, 
Larrabee,  Smith,  etc.;  some  requested  that  the  volunteers  be  as- 
sembled in  solid  new  regiments  and  conscripts  be  sent  to  fill  old 
regiments ;  some  insisted  on  having  the  money  for  bounties  sent  in 
bulk  to  be  disbursed  by  themselves ;  some  wanted  arms  consigned 
to  them  in  bulk  to  be  distributed  by  "State  agents";  some  re- 
cruited three-months,  one-hundred-days,  and  nine-months  men  and 
demanded  that  they  be  applied  on  the  quotas  drafted  for  three 
years;  some  wanted  all  Springfield  and  others  all  Enfield  rifles; 
some  requested  that  recruiting  and  drafting  be  postponed  till  after 
State  and  legislative  elections  had  been  held  or  the  crops  had  been 
gathered ;  one  declared  he  would  raise  no  more  men  unless  they 
could  be  commanded  by  officers  from  the  same  State  only ;  some 
desired  to  withdraw  regiments  from  the  field  while  they  were  being 
recruited ;  some  persisted  that  volunteers  were  State  troops  and 
could  not  be  required  to  act  in  the  United  States  service  "without 
the  formal  consent  of  each  individual,"  and  some  wanted,  after 
men  had  been  drafted,  to  permit  them  to  enlist  in  order  to  secure 
("steal,"  Stanton  said)  the  bounties  and  advance  pay  given  to 
genuine  volunteers — all  of  which  is  but  a  partial  list  of  impossible, 
illegal,  and  very  troublesome  demands. 

Railway  managers  pleaded  with  Stanton  to  exempt  their  em- 
ployes ;  steamboat  companies  to  exempt  their  pilots  and  engineers ; 
telegraph  associations  to  exempt  their  operators ;  engravers  to 
exempt  their  artists,  and  so  on,  while  the  Adams  Express  Company 
and  a  few  other  great  corporations  urged  their  employes  to  enlist. 
Stanton  exempted  locomotive  engineers  actually  at  work  and  em- 
ployes of  the  Military  Telegraph,  and  attempted  to  respect  the 
exemptions  made  by  States.  However,  when  villages  of  one 
thousand  inhabitants  forwarded  lists  of  from  one  hundred  to  two 
hundred  men  alleged  to  be  "members"  of  the  home  "fire  com- 
panies," he  rebelled  and  ordered  that  only  persons  belonging  to 
active  fire  companies  previous  to  the  call,  be  exempted. 


*In  a  telegram  on  August  4,  1864,  to  Governor  Brough  of  Ohio, 
refusing  some  request,  Stanton  said:  "Every  governor  claims  some  specific 
arrangement  for  himself.  Only  yourself  and  one  or  two  others  seem 
willing  to  conform  to  anything  but  their  own  notions." 


RAISING  TROOPS— FEARFUL  DRAFT-RIOTS  245 

He  was  compelled  to  resist  the  combined  ingenuity  of  the 
hostile  and  luke-warm  sections  of  the  entire  nation.  That  he  was 
able  to  do  so  and  yet  keep  the  loyal  governors  constantly  pushing 
the  business  of  furnishing  soldiers,  as  he  did,  is  remarkable.  He 
invited  some  governors  to  consult  with  him  in  Washington ;  sent 
strong  men  to  visit  others  at  their  capitals,  and  others  he  was 
compelled  to  override.  Thus,  on  September  5,  1862,  to  Governor 
Edward  Salomon  of  Wisconsin  : 

You  are  entirely  mistaken  in  supposing  that  you  are  the  exclusive  judge 
as  to  whether  arms  and  ammunition  of  the  general  Government  are  to  be 
sent  to  your  State.  The  President  must  be  the  judge.  You  have  not  until 
now  stated  any  fact  for  the  judgment  of  the  President,  but  contented  your- 
self with  giving  imperious  orders.  The  Department  has  borne,  and  will 
continue  to  bear  them  patiently,  and  will  act  upon  facts  you  may  communi- 
cate. Orders  have  been  given  to  send  ammunition.  The  arms,  it  appears, 
you  have  seized. 

After  each  call  for  volunteers,  or  offer  of  troops,  or  order  for 
a  draft,  Stanton  began  shouting  to  the  ofificers  and  people  of  the 
loyal  States  to  push,  to  hurry,  to  rush ;  and  continued  cannonading 
the  entire  line  until  the  quotas  were  filled.  Instead  of  receiving 
encouragement  from  the  country,  he  furnished  hope,  spirit,  and 
vigor  for  the  whole  campaign,  vast  as  it  was,  sending  a  resume  of 
the  war  news  to  all  the  loyal  governors  every  night  and  securing 
letters  and  telegrams  from  commanders  at  the  front  urging  vigor 
and  haste  in  recruiting,*  which  he  in  turn  sent  to  the  country. 
There  was  no  end  of  telegrams  like  the  following,  generally  written 
with  his  own  hand : 

To  Governor  Morgan,  Albany,  August  19,  1862,  9  P.  M.:  Your  telegram 
received.  The  bounty  will  be  paid  the  113th  Regiment  on  their  arrival  and 
all  supplies  will  be  furnished  as  speedily  as  possible.  The  emergency  for 
troops  here  is  far  more  pressing  than  you  know  or  than  I  dare  tell.  Put 
all  your  steam  on  and  hurry  them  up. 

To  Governor  Salomon,  Madison,  Wisconsin,  August  22,  1862:  Your 
20th  Regiment  is  wanted  in  the  field  immediately.  Not  an  hour  can  be 
spared  and  no  leave  of  absence  can  be  granted.  Please  report  the  moment 
it  is  mustered  in. 


*This  from  General  Sherman  is  a  sample  of  telegrams  he  secured  from 
active  generals:  "If  the  President  modifies  the  draft  to  the  extent  of  one 
man  or  wavers  in  its  execution,  he  is  done;  even  the  army  would  vote 
against  him." 


245  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

To  Governor  Morton,*  Indianapolis,  August,  19,  1862:  The  most  per- 
emptory orders  have  been  given  to  supply  you  with  funds.  If  it  is  not  done, 
I  will  dismiss  the  officer  whose  neglect  occasions  the  delay,  no  matter  what 
his  rank. 

Whenever  a  person  of  foreign  birth  who  was  averse  to  entering 
the  military  service  of  his  adopted  country  was  enrolled,  he  filed  a 
protest  with  the  minister,  consul,  or  agent  of  his  native  land,  alleg- 
ing foreign  allegiance  and  exemption  from  military  duty  in  the 
United  States.  The  foreign  minister  demanded  suspension  of  pro- 
ceedings until  the  case  could  be  investigated,  which  embarrassed 
and  sometimes  interrupted  recruiting  operations.  Stanton  there- 
fore ordered  that  whenever  a  drafted  or  enrolled  man  of  foreign 
birth  had  voted,  he  should  be  held  for  military  duty  wihout  waiting 
for  further  information  or  proceedings.  "A  man  who  votes  must 
bear  arms,"  he  telegraphed  to  Governor  Salomon  of  Wisconsin. 

In  some  instances,  under  this  rule,  men  of  foreign  birth  were 
enrolled,  drafted,  mustered  in,  forwarded,  and  killed  in  battle  before 
the  foreign  agents  had  completed  their  "investigations."  They  had 
voted,  held  office,  or  served  on  juries,  and  Stanton  ordered  them  to 
be. whirled  away  to  the  front. 

While  providing  bounties,  pressing  the  draft,  punishing  rioters, 
and  prodding  the  recruiting  officers,  he  also  appointed  commis- 
sions composed  of  distinguished  men  to  examine  enrollment  lists, 
reassign  and  equalize  quotas,  unearth  frauds,  eliminate  delays,  and 
generally  right  such  wrongs  as  so  vast  a  piece  of  unusual  machin- 
ery might  develop.  Sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of  New  York,  he 
appointed  a  separate  commission  for  each  State.  As  these  com- 
missions were  required  to  make  formal  reports  of  their  doings,  a 
written  history  of  everything  thus  investigated  was  put  on  record 
for  the  future  justification  of  Stanton. 

Early  in  1863  he  suggested  the  formation  of  an  invalid  corps, 
and  soon  organized  over  two  hundred  companies  of  experienced 
soldiers  who  had  become,  by  wounds,  or  illness,  incapacitated  for 
field  duty.  This  corps  guarded  prisoners,  manned  garrisons,  cared 
for  hospitals,  defended  arsenals,  and  performed  other  duties  which, 

*This  telegram  to  Morton  was  brought  out  by  the  fact  that  the  "cop- 
perhead" legislature  of  Indiana  had  refused  to  vote  funds  or  men  to  carry 
on  the  war  for  the  Union,  thus  completely  tying  the  Governor's  hands;  and 
Stanton,  rising  supreme,  as  he  always  did  on  vital  occasions,  had  agreed  to 
forward  something  like  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  from  the  Federal 
supply  at  Washington, 


RAISING  TROOPS— FEARFUL  DRAFT-RIOTS  247 

without  them,  would  have  drawn  twenty-five  thousand  or  more 
able-bodied  troops  from  the  fighting  line.  He  also  suggested  the 
veteran  corps,  to  be  composed  of  men  who  had  served  two  years 
and  over  and  were  therefore  not  liable  to  draft.  Grant  heartily 
approved  the  suggestion  and  shortly  thereafter  Stanton  sent  for- 
ward an  instalment  of  twenty  thousand  veteran  fighters. 

For  a  time  drafted  men  were  permitted  to  purchase  exemptions 
by  paying  three  hundred  dollars  in  cash  to  the  provost  marshals. 
Stanton  asked  Congress  to  wipe  out  that  privilege,  saying  that  he 
wanted  men,  not  money.  Thereafter  drafted  men  were  compelled 
to  serve  or  hire  substitutes,  and  the  armies  were  filled. 

Bounty-jumping  was  one  of  the  curses  of  troop-raising;  yet,  in 
his  anxiety  to  accelerate  recruiting,  Stanton  himself  probably  did 
as  much  as  anybody  to  make  giving  and  jumping  bounties  two  of 
the  conspicuous  features  of  the  war.  He  had  favored  paying 
bounties  and  Congress  had  provided  for  a  bonus  of  one  hundred 
dollars  to  each  volunteer.  On  July  1,  1862,  he  authorized  advance 
payment  of  twenty-five  dollars  of  that  bonus,  taking  the  money 
therefor  out  of  the  adjutant-general's  fund  of  nine  million  dollars. 
This  so  greatly  stimulated  enlistments  that  thereafter  the  bounty 
business  became  prodigious.  After  June  25,  1863,  the  Government 
paid  four  hundred  dollars  in  eight  instalments  to  veterans  who 
re-enlisted ;  after  October  24,  1863,  three  hundred  dollars  in  seven 
instalments  to  new  recruits ;  and  after  July  19,  1864,  one  hundred 
dollars  for  one  year,  two  hundred  dollars  for  two  years,  and  three 
hundred  dollars  for  three  years  to  new  recruits. 

To  these  bounties  some  local  authorities,  States,  corporations, 
and  wealthy  individuals  added  large  bonuses,  frequently  swelling 
the  amounts  to  one  thousand  two  hundred,  one  thousand  five  hun- 
dred, and  two  thousand  dollars  per  man,  all  save  that  from  the 
Federal  Government  payable  in  cash  on  enlistment.  Desertions 
and  bounty-jumping  almost  beyond  belief  followed.*  Many  men  re- 
enlisted  dozens  of  times,  selecting  for  their  criminal  operations  the 
localities  paying  the  largest  cash  bounties. 

Stanton  could  not  prevent  wealthy  from  out-bidding  poor  com- 
munities for  recruits  enough  to  avert  a  draft,  but  finally  issued 
an  order  to  credit  every  enlisted  man  to  the  town  or  ward  in  which 
he  resided,  no  matter  where  he  enlisted.    This  raised  a  storm,  many 

♦Official   returns   reported  278,644  deserters,  of  whom   77,181   were   ar- 
r^ste4  and  returned, 


248  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

governors  hastening  to  Washington  to  urge  that  the  order  be  set 
aside;  but  he  was  inexorable,  and  Congress  followed  with  laws  of 
the  same  tenor.  The  secret  of  the  opposition  to  this  order  lay  in  the 
fact  that  many  local  authorities  winked  at  bounty-jumping.  They 
secured  enlistments  to  fill  their  quotas  by  large  bounties  and,  re- 
porting their  quotas  full,  relied  on  the  Federal  Government  to  hold 
the  men  thus  enlisted  or  catch  them  if  they  deserted — an  impossi- 
bility. Stanton's  order  made  filling  quotas  by  mere  paper  enlist- 
ments impossible — the  actual  men  must  be  delivered ;  hence  the 
vigorous  but  futile  opposition  of  governors  and  leading  men  who 
theretofore  had  been  supposed  to  be  loyal  to  the  core. 

The  wisdom  of  his  methods  for  replenishing  the  armies*  and 
putting  finally  a  million  men  under  arms  at  once,  which  were  de- 
nounced as  "arbitrary,"  "subversive  of  State  rights,"  "autocratic," 
and  all  that,  is  amply  proven  by  a  condensation  from  the  official 
record  of  their  results  : 

1.  A  complete  exhibit  of  the  military  resources  of  loyal  States  where 
none  had  existed,  showing  2,254,163  men,  not  including  1,000,516  under 
arms  when  the  war  closed;  1,120,621  men,  not  including  cadets,  etc.,  raised 
at  a  cost  of  $9.84  per  capita,  whereas  the  previous  system,  with  cheaper 
rents,  subsistence,  etc.,  cost  $34.01  per  man;  77,181  deserters  captured  and 
returned. 

2.  A  system  of  minute  records  of  physical  condition,  age,  etc.,  of  all 
men  examined  placed  in  the  army  archives. 

3.  An  exact,  digested  exhibit  of  killed,  imprisoned,  deserted,  executed, 
died  of  disease,  etc.,  left  to  the  historian. 

4.  A  self-sustaining  basis  established,  with  $9,390,105.64  balance  at  the 
end  of  the  war  to  turn  over  to  the  United  States  Treasury  from  fees,  etc., 
provided  by  law,  whereas  the  cost  of  the  preceding  mode  of  recruiting 
($34.01  per  man)  came  directly  out  of  the  Treasury. 

To  illustrate  Stanton's  great  constructive  and  administrative 
genius.  General  Thomas  M.  Vincent  says  that  "when  the  Govern- 
ment was  driven  suddenly  into  the  Spanish  war  in  1898,  the  War 
Department  officials  found  in  Series  III.  of  the  'Records'  a  prece- 
dent for  everything  they  were  called  upon  to  do,"  so  that  absolutely 
nothing  had  to  be  invented,  nothing  tested  ;  there  was  no  delay. 


*Nearly  1,250,000  men  are  required  for  an  army  of  1,000,000  effective 
soldiers.  The  constantly  sick  averages  about  116,000;  deaths  and  dis- 
charges, 166,000  per  year;  deserters  and  missing,  68,000  per  year;  other 
losses,  12,000.  Thus,  the  recruiting  necessary  to  keep  an  army  of  1,000,000 
effective  men  at  the  front  averages  about  246,000  per  j^ear,  or  21,000  per 
month.     Stanton's  vast  energy  not  only  reached  but  passed  this  average. 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 
THE  FIRE  IN  THE  REAR. 

On  being  sworn  in  secretary  of  war,  Stanton  found  the  family 
of  a  leading  general  who  held  a  confidential  position  in  Washington 
imparting  valuable  military  information  to  "friends  in  Richmond"; 
an  arsenal  foreman  an  outspoken  secessionist;  an  ordnance  officer 
in  correspondence  with  a  Confederate  commander ;  many  members 
of  the  National  Volunteers,  an  organization  formed  to  prevent  the 
inauguration  of  Lincoln,  occupying  positions  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment ;  some  of  the  leading  clerks  robbing  the  Government  by  col- 
lusion with  contractors  for  army  supplies ;  the  Department  mails 
used  for  carrying  damaging  information  to  the  insurgents,  and  the 
fluctuations  of  the  Treasury,  the  progress  of  recruiting,  proposed 
army  movements,  and  even  cabinet  discussions  reported  promptly 
and  accurately  in  Richmond. 

He  dismissed  the  postal  messenger  in  the  War  Department 
and  detailed  his  own  confidential  clerk  (A.  E.  H.  Johnson)  to  suc- 
ceed him,*  thereby  stopping,  as  he  wrote  to  C.  A.  Dana,  many  "rat 
holes." 

The  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  Sons  of  Liberty,  Circle  of 
Hosts,  Union  Relief  Society,  and  kindred  oath-bound  orders  of 
numerous  membership,  weakened  the  Government  and  harassed 
Stanton  almost  as  much  as  the  armed  enemies  at  the  front.  Their 
extent  and  power  were  surprising.    When  C.  L.  Vallandigham  was 


*"0n  January  30,  1862,"  says  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  "I  was  ordered 
to  take  charge  of  the  mails.  Before  that  the  bags  were  the  daily  vehicle 
for  the  letters  of  Washington  rebel  sympathizers  to  their  friends  in  the 
South,  the  letters  being  collected  in  a  pouch  in  the  hall  so  that  anybody 
could  use  it.  The  mail  was  also  opened  upon  a  table  in  the  hall,  and  distrib- 
uted by  the  messenger.  I  had  charge  of  the  mails  two  months,  and  during 
that  time  secured  evidence  on  which  clerks  were  dismissed,  army  officers 
arrested  for  fraud,  and  a  very  high  civilian  official  sent  on  a  mission  from 
which  he  never  officially  returned.  As  he  was  departing,  the  President,  who 
was  present,  inquired  where  he  was  going,  and  the  reply  was,  'Up  in  a  bal- 
loon.' " 


250  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

at  the  head  of  the  Golden  Circle  he  claimed  to  have  initiated  two 
hundred  thousand  "copperheads"  capable  of  bearing  arms,  and  the 
allied  orders  in  1864  were  said  to  number  eight  hundred  thousand, 
North  and  South,  During  McClellan's  campaign  for  the  presidency 
they  were  known  as  the  "McClellan  Minute  Guards."  Their  oaths 
varied  slightly  and  the  central  name  was  changed  from  time  to  time, 
owing  to  exposure  of  their  officers  and  rituals  by  Stanton's  secret 
service.  Their  purpose  may  be  inferred  from  their  oaths,  a  sample, 
given  in  the  Federal  court  of  Indianapolis,  being  in  part  thus: 

I,  ,   do   solemnly   swear   in    the 

presence  of  Almighty  God  that  I  will  go  to  the  aid  of  all  true  and  loyal 
Democrats  and  oppose  the  confiscation  of  their  property  either  North  or 
South.  I  further  promise  and  swear  that  I  will  not  reveal  any  of  the 
secret  signs,  passwords,  or  grips  to  any  not  legally  authorized  by  this 
order,  binding  myself  under  no  less  penalty  than  having  my  bowels  torn 
out  and  cast  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven;  so  help  me  God.  I  promise  and 
swear  that  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to  bring  all  loyal  Democrats  into  this 
Circle  of  Hosts.  I  further  promise  and  swear  that  I  will  do  all  in  my 
power  against  the  present  Yankee-abolition-disunion  administration;  so  help 
me  God. 

Subscribers  to  the  oath  of  the  Union  Relief  Society,  as  dis- 
closed in  the  Federal  court  at  Des  Moines,  were  compelled  to 
swear:  "I  will  resist  draft  either  by  State  or  Federal  authorities; 
I  will  resist  all  orders  issued  by  the  present  administration ;  and  I 
will  do  all  in  my  power  to  unite  the  States  of  the  Northwest  with 
the  Southern  Confederacy."* 

This  tremendous  army  of  sedition,  partially  armed  and  drilled, 
was  practically  beyond  Stanton's  reach.  However,  when  captured 
papers  disclosed  that  one  of  his  personal  friends  and  a  member  of 
the  court  of  claims  in  Washington  was  a  high  official  of  the  disloyal 
order,  he  instructed  Colonel  W.  P.  Wood  to  lay  the  inculpating 
documents  personally  before  the  judge.  Court  was  in  session,  but 
Wood  strode  up  to  the  bench  saying:  'T  am  directed  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  to  deliver  this  package  to  you  in  person  and  to  say  that 


♦Governor  Morton  telegraphed  to  Stanton,  January  3,  1863,  that  the 
Indiana  legislature  contemplated  "acknowledging  the  Southern  Confeder- 
acy, and  urging  the  States  of  the  Northwest  to  dissolve  all  constitutional 
relations  with  the  New  England  States.  The  same  thing  is  on  foot  in 
Illinois."  C.  L.  Vallandigham  stated  in  Canada  that  the  Knights  of  the 
Golden  Circle  proposed  to  seize  the  governments  of  the  Northwestern 
States,  and,  joining  with  the  South,  dictate  terms  of  peace, 


THE  FIRE  IN  THE  REAR  251 

it  relates  to  a  matter  demanding  immediate  attention."  Court  was 
hastily  adjourned ;  the  frightened  judge  proceeded  quickly  to  the 
War  Office,  where  he  finally  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  gave 
such  information  as  enabled  Stanton  to  break  up  the  order  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  and  cripple  its  power  everywhere.  That  in- 
formation disclosed  that  one  of  the  chief  purposes  of  the  order  was 
to  destroy  the  Government  arsenals  and  war  stores,  which  fact  was 
confirmed  by  documents  filed  by  Allan  Pinkerton.  Thereupon,  in 
September,  1862,  Stanton  issued  an  order  to  General  Ripley,  chief 
of  ordnance : 

You  will  give  immediate  and  strict  attention  to  the  officers  in  charge 
of  all  the  arsenals,  armories,  and  magazines  of  the  United  States.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  an  organized  design  is  on  foot  for  their  destruction. 

So  thoroughly  was  this  order  carried  out  that  no  arsenals  were 
destroyed,  although  not  less  than  fifty  attempts  were  made  upon 
the  Indianapolis  arsenal  alone.  But  Stanton  was  not  equally  suc- 
cessful everywhere,  although  in  every  community  throughout  the 
North,  Union  Leagues,  Orders  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  Loyal  Le- 
gions, Sons  of  Patriots,  and  similar  clubs  were  organized  under  oath 
to  offset  the  doings  of  the  "copperheads."  All  were  in  secret  com- 
munication with  Stanton,  as  the  following  incident,  related  by 
George  B.  Smythe  of  Newark,  Ohio,  will  show: 

The  Union  League  in  Columbus,  a  secret  organization,  sent  informa- 
tion to  Secretary  Stanton.  Lists  of  prominent  people  alleged  to  be  disloyal 
were  thus   forwarded   and   Stanton   ordered   their   arrest. 

The  late  Allen  G.  Thurman  and  myself  arranged  to  have  two  men  join, 
and,  neither  knowing  what  the  other  was  doing,  report  its  proceedings  to 
us.  They  reported  a  list  of  names  that  had  been  made  up  to  forward  to 
Mr.  Stanton,  among  them  those  of  Thurman  and  myself.  We  took  the 
postmaster,  a  mutual  friend,  into  our  confidence.  When  time  came  to  make 
up  the  Washington  mail  he  told  his  clerks  that  he  himself  would  attend  to 
it.     Later  his  action  leaked  out  and  he  lost  the  post-office. 

Mr.  Stanton  narrowly  escaped  being  a  victim  of  his  own  kind  of 
machinery.  For  a  time  during  the  war  his  mother  resided  at  Gambier. 
Coming  West  to  see  her,  he  stopped  at  Newark.  Joe  Griffith,  marshal, 
noticed  a  stranger  walking  up  the  middle  of  the  street  alone  and  arrested 
him  as  a  suspicious  character.  Mr.  Stanton  was  able  to  demonstrate  that 
he  was  the  Secretary  of  War  and  Griffith  conducted  him  to  the  American 
House  where,  without  registering,  he  remained  until  night,  incognito.  Later 
a  message  came  from  the  hotel  to  my  office  saying  that  the  Secretary  of 
War  would  like  to  see  me.  The  memory  of  severe  criticisms  which  I  had 
piade  being  fresh,  I  had  not  the  courage  to  meet  Mr.  Stanton,  and  I  sent 


252  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

word  back  that  I  was  "too  busy  to  see  the  Secretary  of  War."  I  have  never 
ceased  to  condemn  myself  for  that  hasty  decision,  for  I  never  again  had  an 
opportunity  of  meeting  my  old  friend.* 

Being  in  Steubenville,  his  birthplace,  during  the  war,  Mr.  Stan- 
ton met  an  old  political  friend,  Moses  Dillon,  who  had  been  unfor- 
tunate and  was  now  poor.  "Come  to  Washington,  Mose,"  said  he, 
taking  his  friend  by  the  hand  sympathetically,  "and  I  will  give  you 
employment.  I  suppose,  of  course,  you  are  a  steadfast  Union  man?" 
"Well,"  was  the  reply,  "I  voted  for  Vallandigham  for  governor." 

"Voted  for  Vallandigham !  Then  you  shall  never  have  a  posi- 
tion under  this  Government  if  I  can  prevent  it,"  exclaimed  Stanton, 
turning  on  his  heel. 

Clement  L.  Vallandigham,  for  whom  Stanton's  friend  Dillon 
could  not  vote  and  be  loyal,  was  convicted  of  sedition  at  Cincinnati 
on  May  19,  1863,  by  a  military  commission,  and  sentenced  to  Fort 
Warren  during  the  remainder  of  the  war.  Ten  days  later  on  Stan- 
ton's recommendation,!  Lincoln  commuted  the  sentence  by  direct- 
ing the  prisoner  to  be  sent  beyond  the  Federal  military  lines,  which 
was  done,  and  with  which  judgment  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  refused  to  interfere. 

Very  many  of  Stanton's  early  friends,  like  Vallandigham,  much 
to  his  sorrow  and  embarrassment,  did  not  support  the  Government. 
One  of  them  was  L.  P.  Milligan  of  Huntington,  Indiana,  who  was 
convicted  by  a  military  commission  of  connection  with  the  Knights 
and  conspiring  against  the  Government.  The  findings  were  ap- 
proved by  the  President  and  the  day  fixed  for  the  execution.  In 
the  meantime  Lee  had  surrendered  and  Mrs.  Milligan  had  made 
a  personal  visit  to  Stanton,  the  friend  of  her  childhood,  which  re- 
sulted in  commuting  the  sentence  of  her  husband,|  who  was  finally 


*Mr.   Smythe  "stood  up"  with  the   groom   at   Stanton's   marriage  with 
Mary  A.  Lamson. 


tStanton  and  Vallandigham  were  born  in  adjoining  counties  in  Ohio 
and  from  youth  had  been  intimate  personal  friends.  Their  friendship  was 
of  such  a  character  that  Stanton  loaned  $500  to  Vallandigham  with  which 
to  complete  a  course  and  set  himself  up  in  law. 


tSays  Mr.  Milligan:  "My  wife  visited  Stanton  with  a  written  brief  of 
my  case  which  I  had  prepared.  The  vestibule  of  his  ofSce  was  a  jam;  but 
she  was  admitted  at  once.  Mr.  Stanton  looked  at  the  paper,  said  he 
recognized  the  handwriting,  put  the  brief  in  his  breast  pocket  and  said: 
'Mrs.  Milligan,  you  will  have  to  excuse  me;  my  time  is  precious;  but  you  go 


THE  FIRE' IN  THE  REAR  258 

released  from  prison  at  Columbus,  the  United  States  court  declaring 
his  conviction  to  have  been  illegal. 

Certain  members  of  Congress  caused  Stanton  much  anxiety. 
Their  hostile  speeches,  printed  in  the  Globe  and  circulated  free  over 
the  country,  gave  great  encouragement  to  those  v^ho  opposed  the 
war.  Perhaps  the  brothers  Benjamin  and  Fernando  Wood  of  New 
York  were  as  troublesome  as  any  of  this  class.  In  June,  1862,  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  allegation  that  the 
former  had  communicated  Federal  information  to  the  enemy.  He 
gave  out  that  he  intended  to  attack  the  Government  in  reply  to  the 
proceedings.  By  Stanton's  orders  the  telegraph  wires  leading  to 
the  Capitol  were  switched  into  the  War  Department  so  he  could 
follow  the  speech,  and  officers  were  detailed  to  clap  Mr.  Wood  into 
the  Old  Capitol  Prison  in  case  the  promised  remarks  should  be  too 
disloyal.  Contrary  to  expectation,  Wood  said  nothing  offensive  ;  but 
his  paper,  the  New  York  News,  was  suppressed  for  seditious  utter- 
ances and  disloyal  practises  and  not  permitted  to  resume  publica- 
tion during  a  period  of  eighteen  months.  Later,  when  Fernando 
Wood  made  a  speech  against  the  Government,  Stanton  heard  it  by 
telegraph  with  warrant  in  hand  for  his  arrest  if  necessary ;  but  the 
speaker  was  not  molested.  However,  the  fact  that  Stanton  knew 
the  substance  of  every  disloyal  speech  as  soon  as  it  was  uttered,  and 
that  he  was  ready  to  cut  the  oration  short  at  any  point  if  deemed 
advisable,  had  a  depressing  effect  and  made  his  influence  more 
potent  than  that  of  any  other  person  in  the  Republic. 

An  exasperating  feature  of  his  troubles  was  the  foreign  citizen- 
ship of  many  of  the  spies  and  agents  of  the  Confederacy.  Supplied 
with  passports  called  "protection  papers,"  they  were  supposed  to 
be  neutral ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  hundreds  of  them,  including  very 
many  foreign  consuls,  belonged  to  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Cir- 
cle, raised  money  for  the  South,  gave  information  for  running  the 
blockade  with  contraband  goods,  carried  contraband  despatches  and 
articles  through  the  Federal  lines,  and  maintained  a  perfect  line  of 
communication  between  the  Confederate  government  at  Richmond 
and  their  many  agents  in  Canada  and  Europe. 


home.  Your  husband  will  not  be  executed  and  when  the  present  excitement 
subsides  he  shall  be  released.'  My  wife  left  for  home  in  full  confidence 
that  I  was  not  to  be  executed.  Three  hours  after  this  interview  Governor 
Morton  and  Senator  Hendricks  received  despatches  from  the  War  Office 
announcing  the  commutation." 


254  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Jacob  Thompson,  Buchanan's  secretary  of  the  interior,  was  the 
leader  of  the  junta  in  Canada,  where  plots  against  the  Government 
were  concocted,  some  of  which  were  to  blow  up  the  locks  at  Sault 
Sainte  Marie,  the  outlet  of  Lake  Superior ;  set  fire  to  Northern  cities 
on  election  day;  send  clothing  infected  with  smallpox,  yellow  fever, 
and  other  diseases  throughout  the  North ;  liberate  the  Confederate 
prisoners  at  Chicago,  loot  the  banks  and  burn  the  city;  deliver  the 
captives  from  the  barracks  on  Johnson's  Island,  in  Lake  Erie ;  seize 
Fort  Montgomery  and  the  boats  on  Lake  Champlain ;  raid  and  rob 
Plattsburg,  Whitehall,  Burlington,  Swanton,  and  St.  Albans — espe- 
cially the  banks  of  those  cities — and,  by  destroying  railways  and 
bridges,  hold  the  Northern  frontier,  with  Fort  Montgomery  as  a 
base. 

Most  of  these  plans  were  exposed  and  frustrated  by  Stanton's 
ceaseless  vigilance,  but  kidnapping  Lincoln  and  his  cabinet  was 
conceived  and  paid  for  in  Montreal  and  Toronto,  and,  on  October  19, 
1864,  St.  Albans  was  raided,  two  persons  were  killed,  and  two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  taken  from  the  banks.  The  raiders  were 
twice  arrested  but  discharged  by  the  Canadian  courts  on  the  ground 
that  they  were  belligerents  and  the  raid  an  act  of  war.  Later,  how- 
ever, Canada  was  compelled  to  make  reimbursement  of  the  stolen 
funds. 

The  Chicago  conspiracy  was  frustrated  in  November,  18G4. 
Large  quantities  of  arms  were  captured  by  General  P.  St.  George 
Cooke,  and  hundreds  of  members  of  the  Indiana  and  the  Illinois 
Sons  of  Liberty,  nearly  two  hundred  Confederates  who  had  been 
ordered  over  from  Canada  by  Jacob  Thompson,  and  several  British 
subjects*  provided  with  so-called  "protection  papers,"  were  arrested. 
Thereupon  Stanton  instructed  his  officers  to  incarcerate  incom- 
municado every  agent  or  person  known  to  be  traveling  about  under 
the  shield  of  "protection  papers."  This  order  pretty  effectively  dis- 
posed of  the  most  despicable  of  secret  foes  with  which  he  had  to  con- 
tend, but  created  a  new  class  of  personal  enemies  whose  tongues 
are  still  wagging. 


*In  New  Orleans,  those  claiming  to  be  British  and  other  foreign  sub- 
jects were  unable  to  cope  with  the  vigor  of  General  Butler,  so  thousands 
of  them  secreted  their  property,  ceased  work,  and  lived  upon  his  bounty  as 
paupers — a  shrewd  way  of  burdening  the  Government. 


THE  FIRE  IN  THE  REAR  255 

He  was  hampered  by  a  fire  in  the  rear  from  the  cabinet  itself. 
Before  becoming  secretary  of  war  he  had  criticized  the  Navy  De- 
partment, especially  the  payment  of  a  very  large  fee  or  "commis- 
sion" to  a  favorite  relative  of  the  Secretary  for  purchasing  vessels,  so 
that  Mr.  Welles  was  uncordial  from  the  beginning. 

Postmaster-General  Blair  was  hostile,  even  protesting  against 
Stanton's  retention  as  secretary.  As  he  was  a  Marylander,  Stanton 
called  his  attention,  in  cabinet  meeting,  to  the  fact  that  nearly  all 
the  postmasters  in  lower  Maryland  were  receiving  contraband  let- 
ters, articles,  documents,  and  information  and  forwarding  them  by 
blockade  runners  to  Richmond,  and  suggested  that  each  secretary 
be  held  responsible  for  the  loyalty  and  conduct  of  his  own  employes 
and  appointees.  The  feeling  thus  accentuated  was  further  inflamed 
by  the  arrest  of  several  Marylanders,  who  turned  out  to  be  Mr. 
Blair's  relatives,  for  trading  in  quinine  with  the  Confederates.  In 
view  of  this  relationship  and  the  fact  that  some  of  the  parties  ar- 
rested were  women,  Stanton  ordered  their  release  after  confiscating 
their  horses  and  vehicles  and  four  hundred  and  fifty  ounces  of  quin- 
ine. Mr.  Blair  demanded  restitution  of  the  property,  which  was 
refused,  and  then  asked  Lincoln  for  the  dismissal  of  General  L.  C. 
Baker,  who  made  the  seizures.  As  Baker  was  Stanton's  personal 
appointee  and  agent,  Lincoln  advised  Stanton  of  the  demand  and 
was  assured  that  "Mr.  Blair's  dismissal  would  be  more  beneficial 
to  the  country  than  that  of  General  Baker."  Thereafter  Mr.  Blair's 
displeasure  was  very  positive  and  so  continued  to  the  end  of  life. 
He  was  retired  from  the  cabinet  on  September  23,  1864. 

Perhaps  Stanton's  most  interesting  opponent  was  Mrs.  Lincoln, 
whose  personal  intimacy  with  the  Woods  and  other  enemies  of  the 
administration  and  the  war  he  mentioned  to  the  President  himself. 

"Mr.  Stanton  was  often  enraged  because  Mrs.  Lincoln  sent 
quantities  of  flowers  from  the  Government  greenhouses  to  the  resi- 
dence of  Congressman  Fernando  Wood  whenever  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wood — both  of  whom  denounced  the  Secretary  and  the  war  inces- 
santly— gave  a  public  reception,"  says  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson. 
"She  retaliated  by  sending  to  him  books  and  clippings  describing 
an  exacting  and  disagreeable  person."  However,  during  1863  Mrs. 
Lincoln  became  reconciled  to  Stanton's  heroic  ways  and  their  inter- 
course thereafter  was  entirely  agreeable. 

Thus  is  faintly  indicated  the  character  of  the  hostile  forces  that 


256  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

were  operating  behind  his  back,*  as  well  as  how  largely  alone  he 
stood  in  the  great  task  that  was  set  for  him  to  accomplish.  More 
than  90  per  cent,  of  all  the  criticism  and  denunciation  which  have 
echoed  and  reechoed  over  his  grave  during  the  past  thirty  years 
can  be  traced  to  those  whose  unlawful  or  selfish  plans  were 
thwarted,  whose  filchings  were  recovered,!  w^hose  unfaithful  heads 
were  guillotined,  or  whose  crimes  were  punished  by  his  fearless 
and  overmastering  energy. 


♦The  crushing  perplexity  that  constantly  attended  the  endeavor  to  save 
a  country  that  was  trying,  secretly  as  well  as  openly,  to  destroy  itself,  is 
partially  illustrated  by  thousands  of  telegrams  and  letters  on  file  in  the 
secret  archives  of  the  Government  of  which  this  is  a  sample: 

"New  York,  Dec.  29,  1863,  1  P.  M. 
"The  Honorable  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War: 

"I  have  this  morning  seen  evidence  which  affords  good  ground  for  the 
belief  that  the  United  States  Marshal  here  is  probably  in  full  partnership 
with  the  rebel  operators  of  this  city.  From  long  personal  knowledge  of  the 
individual,  I  have  no  doubt  he  is  perfectly  capable  of  such  treasonable  con- 
duct. 

"C.    A.    Dana." 


tStanton's  secret  service  alone  recovered  over  $1,000,000  of  stolen  cash 
and  sent  more  than  1,000  offenders  to  prison. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

HAMPTON  ROADS  PEACE  CONFERENCE. 

On  December  28,  1864,  Lincoln  gave  to  F.  P.  Blair  a  pass 
through  the  lines  for  a  journey  to  see  Jefferson  Davis.  On  January 
]8,  Blair  returned  with  a  letter  from  Davis  which  said  he  would 
'"not  stand  on  forms"  in  an  effort  to  restore  "peace  to  the  two  coun- 
tries." Lincoln,  very  much  pleased,  instructed  Blair  to  revisit  Rich- 
mond and  learn  what  steps  Davis  proposed  to  take  in  behalf  of  peace. 
On  second  thought  he  consulted  Stanton,  who  exclaimed :  • 

There  are  not  two  countries,  Mr.  President,  and  there  never  will  be 
TWO  countries.  Tell  Davis  that  if  you  treat  for  peace,  it  will  be  for  this 
ONE  country;  negotiations  on  any  other  basis  are  impossible. 

Lincoln  instantly  adopted  this  view  and  sent  a  reply  to  Davis 
by  Blair  agreeing  to  receive  agents  to  treat  for  peace  for  our  "one 
common  country." 

Thereupon  Davis  appointed  R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  Alexander  H. 
Stephens,  and  John  A.  Campbell  to  proceed  to  Washington  to  meet 
the  President,  and  asked  Grant  for  safe  conduct.  Stanton  peremp- 
torily forbade  issuing  passes  to  insurgent  agents  to  visit  Washing- 
ton. Next  morning,  however,  he  telegraphed  that  a  messenger 
would  meet  the  gentlemen  where  they  were — at  City  Point,  near 
Richmond — and  sent  Major  Thomas  T.  Eckert,  who  bore  a  letter 
from  Lincoln  saying  simply  that  if  the  proposed  commissioners 
would  come  to  the  terms  of  his  letter  to  Davis — to  treat  for  peace 
in  "one  common  country" — they  would  be  met. 

Grant  had  represented  that  the  commissioners  were  sincere, 
but  Major  Eckert,  who  was  sent  by  Stanton  to  prevent  Lincoln  from 
being  snared  into  agreeing  to  destructive  terms  of  peace,  thought  he 
did  not  find  them  so,  and  turned  them  back.  Grant,  seeing  his  rep- 
resentations going  for  naught,  telegraphed  at  length  to  Stanton  that 
the  insurgent  commissioners  were  in  earnest  and  that  Lincoln  him- 
self ought  to  meet  them,  and  then  gave  the  safe  conduct  which  Eck- 
ert, under  Stanton's  instructions,  had  refused.     Stanton  declined  to 


258  EDWIN  iMcMASTERS  STANTON 

have  anything  to  do  with  the  affair.  He  believed  that  it  was  decid- 
edly beneath  the  dignity  of  the  President  and  his  cabinet,  and  also 
that  it  must  prove  a  failure  or  a  disaster  because,  he  said,  Lincoln 
"had  no  right  to  do  anything  except  demand  unconditional  surren- 
der," and  he  had  learned  (which  fact  Eckert  had  confirmed  at  City 
Point)  that  the  commissioners  were  empowered  to  come  to  no  terms 
that  did  not  recognize  the  Confederacy  as  a  separate  State.  He  so 
informed  Lincoln  and  begged  him  to  be  cautious. 

"You  observe,  Mr.  President,"  he  said,  "that  Davis  himself  does 
not  propose  to  meet  you ;  he  sends  underlings  who  have  no  discre- 
tion beyond  their  instructions  and  whose  acts  can  be  repudiated,  if 
necessary.  But  go,  if  you  think  the  proposition  is  not  a  trap,*  and  I 
will  remain  here  and  push  our  plans  for  crushing  the  enemy,  which 
is  the  only  thing  that  will  save  the  LTnion." 

Lincoln,  offering  no  reply,  proceeded  to  Fortress  Monroe  and, 
with  Secretary  Seward,  had  a  conference  of  four  hours  with  the  in- 
surgents, which  resulted,  as  Stanton  had  predicted,  in  nothing, 
though  many  writers  of  "history"  allege  that  the  President  offered 
to  pay  the  insurgents  four  hundred  million  dollars  for  their  slaves 
if  the  war  should  be  closed  at  once.  This  assertion  is  probably  en- 
tirely unfounded,  as  Stanton  had  explained  before  Lincoln  de- 
parted that  already  all  the  slaves  of  rebellious  masters  had  been  con- 
fiscated under  the  laws  of  war,  and  therefore  could  not  be  subjects 
of  compensation.  He  also  pointed  out  that  Congress  had  passed 
the  Trumbull  (XHIth)  Amendment  of  the  constitution,  which  for- 
ever wiped  out  slavery  both  as  a  thing  and  as  a  right,  so  there  were 
no  slaves  in  existence  to  be  paid  for.  However,  the  historian  can 
only  imagine  what  would  have  happened  if  Stanton  had  not  inter- 
posed a  masterful  hand. 


*"Mr.  Stanton  did  not  want  the  President  to  grant  that  conference," 
says  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson.  "He  believed  from  the  beginning  that  the 
coming  of  the  Confederate  commissioners  was  a  trap  laid  for  Mr.  Lincoln. 
He  did  not  want  to  accompany  the  President  and  suggested  sending  Gen- 
eral Eckert  in  advance  with  specific  instructions  to  test  the  sincerity  of  the 
commissioners,  and  privately  told  Eckert  to  'keep  close  to  Mr.  Lincoln.' 
When  General  Eckert  returned  he  raised  his  hands  above  his  head  and 
exclaimed:  'You  are  head  and  shoulders  above  them  all,  Mr.  Secretary!" 
He  then  related  all  that  had  transpired.  He  never  made  a  written  report, 
but  I  know  that  Mr.  Stanton  enjoined  him  to  watch  closely  the  proceedings 
snd  I  know  also  that  he  obeyed  the  injunction  and  reported  thereon  orally.' 


CHAPTER  XLV. 
THE  SURRENDER— A  RESCUING  HAND. 

Lincoln  and  the  several  members  of  his  cabinet  gathered  in  a 
room  at  the  Capitol  on  the  evening  of  March  3,  1865,  to  dispose  of 
the  last  bills  of  the  expiring  thirty-eighth  Congress.  While  thus 
engaged  a  telegram  from  Grant  advised  that  Lee  sought  an  inter- 
view for  the  purpose  of  arranging  terms  of  peace.  Lincoln,  rejoic- 
ing at  the  prospect  of  terminating  the  war  and  overflowing  with 
kindly  feelings,  proposed  to  allow  Grant  to  extend  to  the  vanquished 
insurgents  almost  any  terms  they  might  ask  if  they  would  cease 
fighting. 

"Stanton  listened  in  silence,"  says  Carpenter's  "Six  Months  in 
the  White  House,"  "restraining  his  emotion ;  but  at  length  the  tide 
burst  forth.  'Mr.  President,'  said  he,  'to-morrow  is  inauguration 
day.  If  you  are  not  to  be  president;  if  any  authority  is  for  one 
moment  to  be  recognized  or  any  terms  made  that  do  not  signify  that 
you  are  the  supreme  head  of  the  nation ;  if  generals  in  the  field  are 
to  negotiate  peace,  or  any  other  chief  magistrate  is  to  be  acknowl- 
edged on  this  continent,  you  are  not  needed  and  you  had  better  not 
take  the  oath  of  office.'  " 

The  President's  tone  changed.  "I  think  the  Secretary  is  right," 
he  said  with  an  air  of  thoughtfulness  and,  taking  a  pen,  wrote  the 
following,  which,  being  satisfactory,  was  dated  and  signed  by  Stan- 
ton and  sent  from  the  Capitol : 

Washington,  March  3,  1865,  12  P.  M. 
Lieutenant-General  Grant: 

The  President  directs  me  to  say  to  you  that  he  wishes  you  to  have  no 
conference  with  General  Lee,  unless  it  is  for  the  capitulation  of  General 
Lee's  army,  or  on  some  minor  or  purely  military  matter.  He  further 
directs  me  to  say  to  you  that  you  are  not  to  decide,  discuss,  or  confer  upon 
any  political  question.  Such  questions  the  President  holds  in  his  own 
hands  and  will  submit  them  to  no  military  conference  or  convention.  Mean- 
time you  are  to  press  to  the  utmost  your  military  advantages. 

Edwin    M.    Stanton, 

Secretary   of   War. 


260  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Pending  the  conversion  of  Lincoln  to  the  above  and  during  the 
night  of  March  3,  Stanton  formulated  and  sent  the  following,  which 
refers  to  the  preliminary  work  of  arranging  the  proposed  confer- 
ence with  Lee : 

General  Ord's  conduct  in  holding  intercourse  with  General  Longstreet 
upon  political  questions  not  committed  to  his  charge  is  not  approved.  The 
same  thing  was  done  in  one  instance  by  Major  Key  when  the  army  was 
commanded  by  General  McClellan  and  he  was  sent  to  meet  Howell  Cobb 
on  the  subject  of  exchanges,  and  it  was  in  that  case,  as  in  this,  dis- 
approved. You  will  please  in  the  future  instruct  officers  appointed  to  meet 
rebel  officers  to  confine  themselves  to  the  matters  especially  committed 
to  them. 

Grant  was  embarrassed  and  probably  nettled  by  the  peremptory 
nature  of  these  instructions,  for  Lincoln  himself  had  personally  told 
him  to  "give  Lee  anything  he  wants  if  he  will  only  stop  fighting,"* 
in  accordance  with  which,  through  his  staff  officer  (E.  O.  C.  Ord), 
he  had  sent  word  to  the  Confederate  commander  that  he  "would  not 
decline"  a  conference  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  a  basis  for  end- 
ing the  war,  or  at  least  suspending  hostilities.  A  "basis"  was 
promptly  outlined  by  Jefferson  Davis  and  discussed  at  several  inter- 
views between  General  Ord  in  behalf  of  Grant  and  General  Long- 
street  in  behalf  of  Lee  and  "President"  Davis. 

On  February  28,  Davis,  having  given  authority  to  Lee  to  enter 
finally  upon  these  negotiations.  Grant  telegraphed  and  Stanton  an- 
swered as  above  set  forth.  Thus  Lincoln  was  thrashed  out  of  his 
previous  untenable  views  and  Grant  rescued  none  too  soon  from 
an  entangling  position — that  of  "negotiating  peace"  when  he  had  no 
authority  except  to  accept  surrender.  In  that  moment  of  weakness, 
a  single  intellect  was  clear  enough,  a  single  will  decisive  enough  to 
prevent  a  reprecipitation  of  chaos. 

On  IMarch  14,  Stanton  visited  Grant  at  headquarters  to  give 
advice  by  parol  which  he  did  not  care  to  put  in  writing  concern- 
ing terms  of  surrender  and  kindred  matters.  "You  must  capture 
Lee  at  any  hazard,"  was  his  injunction.  "Yes,"  quietly  answered 
Grant,  "I  shall  do  so  in  about  twenty  days."  Then,  after  witness- 
ing a  review  of  General  Meade's  army,  he  returned  to  Washington 
and  suggested  to  Lincoln,  reinforced  by  Grant,  that  it  might  be 
interesting  for  the  President  to  be  near  the  front  to  witness  the  col- 
lapse. 


*See  Secretary  Welles'  "Lincoln  and  Seward." 


THE  SURRENDER— A  RESCUING  HAND  261 

Lincoln  adopted  the  suggestion  and  left  on  March  23,  on  board 
the  Bat,  for  City  Point,  to  carry  out  Stanton's  remarkable  program. 
He  there  received  a  telegram  from  Stanton:  "I  hope  to  have  a  tele- 
gram from  you  dated  at  Richmond  before  you  return."  Generally, 
Stanton's  communications  were  swift  and  sharp,  like  the  discharges 
of  a  Catling  gun ;  but  the  prospects  of  a  speedy  collapse  of  the  Re- 
bellion seemed  to  relax  the  severity  of  his  temper.  "Your  telegram 
and  Parke's  report  of  the  scrimmage  this  morning  are  received," 
he  replied  to  a  telegram  from  Lincoln  on  the  25th.  "The  rebel  rooster 
looks  a  little  the  worse,  as  he  could  not  hold  the  fence.  Now  that 
you  are  away,  everything  is  quiet ;  the  tormentors  have  vanished. 
I  hope  you  will  remember  Ceneral  Harrison's  advice  to  his  men  at 
Tippecanoe,  that  they  could  see  as  well  a  little  further  oflf." 

Thus  he  telegraphed  on  the  26th :  "Your  military  news  warms 
the  blood,  or  we  should  be  in  danger  of  a  March  chill."  On  the 
31st,  Lincoln  having  expressed  an  intention  to  return  to  Washing- 
ton, Stanton  thus  protested  :  "I  hope  you  will  stay  and  see  it  out.  I 
have  strong  faith  that  your  presence  will  have  great  influence  in 
inducing  exertions  that  will  bring  us  Richmond.  Compared  to  that, 
no  other  duty  can  weigh  a  feather.  A  pause  now  by  the  army  would 
be  harmful.    If  you  remain  on  the  ground,  there  will  be  no  pause." 

Lincoln  remained  as  requested.  Grant  and  other  generals  tele- 
graphing full  advices  to  him  which  were  repeated  promptly  to  Stan- 
ton, who  formulated  bulletins  therefrom  to  be  telegraphed  broad- 
cast over  the  country.  Thus,  with  their  President  for  reporter,  the 
people  were  kept  in  elation  and  excitement  for  a  week  by  the  news 
from  the  front.  On  the  3d  of  April  he  telegraphed  to  Stanton  that 
Petersburg  had  been  evacuated  and  he  was  about  to  accompany 
Grant  on  the  march  of  interception.  Stanton  inquired  instantly: 
"Ought  you  to  expose  the  nation  to  the  consequences  of  any  disas- 
ter to  yourself  in  the  pursuit  of  a  treacherous  and  dangerous  enemy 
like  the  rebel  army?"  Thus  warned,  the  President  desisted,  and 
that  very  morning  General  Godfrey  Weitzel  entered  Richmond, 
hoisted  the  Stars  and  Stripes  and  took  formal  possession  of  the 
city.  Next  morning  Lincoln,  on  foot  and  with  no  guards,  passed 
into  the  smoking  and  ruined  capital. 

At  this  moment  W.  E.  Kettles  of  Boston,  16  years  of  age,  was 
operating  the  Richmond  wire  in  the  War  Department.  His  story 
is  most  interesting: 


262  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

On  the  morning  of  April  3,  1865,  Fort  Monroe  suddenly  switched  City- 
Point  on  and  told  us  to  look  out  for  Richmond.  "Richmond"  meant  an 
operator  within  four  miles  of  the  city  and  not  the  city  proper,  and  we  all 
accordingly  sharpened  for  "R'd."  Quickly  there  came  a  despatch  to  Mr. 
Stanton  saying  that  General  Weitzel  entered  Richmond  that  morning 
at  8:15  o'clock. 

I  took  the  despatch,  and  ran  with  the  copy  to  the  room  adjoining  the 
library,  upsetting  my  table,  ink  and  all.  I  found  Mr.  Tinker,  the  cipher 
clerk,  who  in  three  seconds  disappeared  with  the  message.  I  went  back  to 
my  table,  which  had  been  fixed  up  in  the  meantime,  soon  followed  by  Mr. 
Tinker.  We  stepped  to  a  window  overlooking  the  street.  Just  as  we  did  so 
a  man  sauntered  up  the  walk  in  front  of  the  Department  and  as  he  was  a 
friend  of  Mr.  Tinker's,  yelled  up:  "What's  the  news?"  Mr.  T.  replied: 
"Richmond's  surrendered!" 

It  was  comical  to  see  that  man  go  yelling  out  of  the  front  yard.  In 
four  minutes  there  were  thousands  of  people  around  the  Department. 
Every  office  and  building  in  the  city  seemed  to  open  at  the  same  time.  The 
streets  filled  from  every  direction.  Horse  cars  had  no  show;  steam  fire- 
engines  came  out  on  the  avenue,  bunched  themselves,  and  commenced 
whistling;  cannon  planted  in  the  park  close  by  began  firing;  and  men, 
women,  and  children  yelled  themselves  hoarse  and  acted  ridiculous.  The 
noise  was  tremendous — pandemonium  is  the  word. 

At  this  time  Secretary  Stanton  came  into  my  room,  and,  on  being  told 
by  General  Eckert  that  I  was  the  boy  who  received  the  message,  grabbed 
me  in  his  arms,  lifted  me  to  the  window  sill  and,  making  a  gesture  to  the 
crowd  below,  shouted:  "My  friends,  here  is  the  young  man  who  received 
the  telegram  which  tells  us  of  the  fall  of  Richmond." 

At  the  sight  of  Stanton  the  cheering  became  more  vociferous 
than  ever,  accompanied  by  peremptory  demands  for  a  speech.  With 
voice  half  choked  and  form  shaking  with  emotion,  he  made  this 
lofty  response: 

Friends  and  Fellow  Citizens: 

In  this  great  hour  of  triumph  my  heart  as  well  as  yours  swells  with 
gratitude  to  Almighty  God  for  His  deliverance  of  this  nation.  Our  thanks 
are  due  to  the  President,  to  the  army,  to  the  navy,  to  our  great  commanders 
on  land  and  sea,  to  the  gallant  officers  and  men  who  have  periled  their  lives 
upon  the  field  of  battle  and  drenched  the  soil  with  their  blood. 

Henceforth  our  commiseration  and  our  active  aid  should  be  extended 
to  the  wounded,  the  maimed,  and  the  suffering  who  bear  the  many  marks  of 
their  sacrifices  in  this  mighty  struggle. 

Let  us  humbly  offer  our  thanks  to  Divine  Providence  for  His  care  over 
us  and  beseech  Him  to  guide  and  govern  us  in  our  duties  hereafter,  as  He 
has  carried  us  to  victory  in  the  past;  to  teach  us  how  to  be  humble  in  the 
midst  of  triumph;  how  to  be  just  in  the  hour  of  victory;  and  how  to  so  se- 
cure the  foundations  of  this  Republic,  soaked  as  they  are  in  blood,  that  they 
shall  last  forever  and  ever! 


THE  SURRENDER— A  RESCUING  HAND  263 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  speech  Stanton  read  to  the  multitude 
the  official  telegram  from  General  Weitzel  announcing  the  surren- 
der, whereupon  there  were  calls  for  a  speech  from  Willie  Kettles. 
Stanton  again  lifted  the  lad  to  the  window  who  says  of  his  exper- 
ience: 

Insignificant  things  were  great  things  on  that  day  and  Mr.  Stanton's 
performance  set  the  vast  crowd  to  yelling,  the  cannons  to  roaring,  and  the 
whistles  to  screeching  more  terribly  than  ever;  and  I,  who  weighed  nearly 
90  pounds,  was  a  big  man — as  big  a  man,  I  thought,  as  Mr.  Stanton  him- 
self.   The  Republic  was  saved,  and  I  felt  that  I  had  saved  it. 

The  Secretary  was  beside  himself  with  joy.  The  investment  of  Rich- 
mond was  his  chief  hobby,  and  he  was  intensely  anxious  to  have  Jeff 
Davis  with  all  his  papers,*  captured  along  with  the  remainder  of  the  Con- 
federate eflFects.  "We  must  have  him,  too,"  he  said.  "We  must  let  him  see 
what  he  has  been  doing." 

The  War  Department  enjoyed  a  sort  of  go-as-you-please  day — the  first 
in  its  history  under  Mr.  Stanton.  No  one  ever  beheld  a  more  changed 
man.  He  walked  about  the  building  smiling,  chatting,  and  receiving  callers 
in  exuberant  mood.  Toward  midnight,  however,  the  usual  pressure  was 
suddenly  renewed,  "for,"  said  he,  "we  must  have  Lee  in  the  same  basket 
with  JefT  Davis,"  believing,  when  he  made  the  remark,  that  Davis  had  been 
captured  by  General  Weitzel. 

Grant  immediately  energized  his  pursuit  of  Lee  who,  on  the 
afternoon  of  April  9,  surrendered  his  starved  and  shattered  legions 
at  Appomattox,  precisely  "as  a  purely  military  matter"  without  "de- 
ciding, discussing,  or  conferring  upon  any  political  subject." 

After  this,  seeing  the  inevitable  was  at  hand,  General  Joseph 
E.  Johnston  sent  overtures  to  General  Sherman  for  terms  of  surren- 
der. A  meeting  was  arranged  and  the  two  commanders  (Johnston 
strictly  representing  "President"  Davis,  but  Sherman  acting  in 
entire  absence  of  instructions  from  and  without  the  knowledge  of 
Stanton  or  Grant)  signed,  in  the  presence  of  John  C.  Breckinridge, 
the  Confederate  secretary  of  war,  a  complete  military  arrangement, 
dated  April  18,  1865 — a  "Memorandum  Basis  of  Agreement"  for 
all  the  States  of  the  Union,  loyal  and  insurgent,  as  follows : 


*Stanton  gave  special  instructions  to  Charles  A.  Dana  with  reference 
to  Confederate  records  and  documents.  On  the  day  of  the  evacuation  Gen- 
eral G.  F.  Shepley  was  appointed  military  governor  of  Richmond  and  be- 
fore night  had  promulgated  orders  to  capture  and  turn  over  to  Provost- 
Marshal  Manning  all  papers  and  records  belonging  to  or  relating  to  the 
Confederate  government.  History  now  knows  the  value  of  Stanton's 
wisdom  in  this  respect. 


264  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

1.  The  contending  armies  in  the  field  to  maintain  the  status  quo  until 
notice  is  given  by  the  commanding  general  of  any  one  to  his  opponent, 
and  reasonable  time,  say  forty-eight  hours,  allowed. 

2.  The  Confederate  armies  now  in  existence  to  be  disbanded  and  con- 
ducted to  their  several  States  and  capitals,  there  to  deposit  their  arms  and 
public  property  in  the  State  arsenal;  and  each  officer  and  man  to  execute  and 
file  an  agreement  to  cease  from  acts  of  war,  and  to  abide  the  action  of  both 
State  and  Federal  authority.  The  number  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war 
to  be  reported  to  the  chief  of  ordnance  at  Washington  City,  subject  to  the 
future  action  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  in  the  meantime  to 
be  used  solely  to  maintain  peace  and  order  within  the  borders  of  the  States 
respectively. 

3.  The  recognition  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  the  sev- 
eral State  governments  on  their  officers  and  legislatures  taking  the  oath 
prescribed  by  the  constitution  of  the  United  States;  and  where  conflicting 
State  governments  have  resulted  from  the  war,  the  legitimacy  of  all  shall 
be  submitted  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

4.  The  reestablishment  of  all  Federal  courts  in  the  several  States,  with 
powers  as  defined  by  the  constitution  and  the  laws  of  Congress. 

5.  The  people  and  inhabitants  of  all  States  to  be  guaranteed,  as  far  as 
the  executive  can,  their  political  rights  and  franchises,  as  well  as  their 
rights  of  person  and  property,  as  defined  by  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  States  respectively. 

6.  The  executive  authority  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
not  to  disturb  any  of  the  people,  by  reason  of  the  late  war,  so  long  as  they 
live  in  quiet  and  peace,  and  abstain  from  acts  of  armed  hostility,  and  obey 
the  laws  in  existence  at  the  place  of  their  residence. 

7.  In  general  terms,  it  is  announced  that  the  war  is  to  cease;  a  gen- 
eral amnesty,  so  far  as  the  executive  of  the  United  States  can  command, 
on  condition  of  the  disbandment  of  the  Confederate  armies,  the  distri- 
bution of  arms,  and  the  resumption  of  peaceful  pursuits  by  officers  and 
men  hitherto  composing  said  armies.  Not  being  fully  empowered  by  our 
respective  principals  to  fulfill  these  terms,  we  individually  and  officially 
pledge  ourselves  to  promptly  obtain  authority,  and  will  endeavor  to  carry 
out  the  above  program. 

This  extraordinary  "agreement,"  written  almost  entirely  by  J. 
H.  Reagan,  postmaster-general  in  the  Confederate  cabinet,  and 
copied  and  amended  a  little  for  the  worse  by  Sherman,  was  des- 
patched by  sea  to  Grant  (in  Washington),  who  at  once,  on  April 
21,  transmitted  it  to  Stanton.  Andrew  Johnson  was  now  president ; 
Lincoln's  cortege  was  moving  slowly  and  sadly  towards  Springfield  ; 
Secretary  Seward  lay  at  his  home  gashed  by  an  assassin's  knife ;  the 
entire  force  of  the  secret  service  and  portions  of  the  army  were 
scouring  the  country  for  Jefferson  Davis  or  pursuing  John  Wilkes 
Booth ;  and  the  people  were  in  no  temper  to  extend  concessions  of 


THE  SURRENDER— A  RESCUING  HAND  265 

State  sovereignty  and  insurgent  supremacy  to  the  rebellious  sec- 
tions. 

Stanton  advised  President  Johnson  to  call  a  meeting  of  the 
cabinet  at  8  o'clock  that  evening,  which  was  done.  He  then  returned 
to  the  War  Department — for  already  he  had  determined  a  course  of 
action — and  began  to  prepare  not  only  orders  and  instructions  to 
supplant  Sherman's  political  "agreement"  with  mere  military  terms 
of  surrender,  but  a  semi-official  address  giving  the  reasons  therefor, 
which  should  also  be  an  assurance  to  the  people  that  he  would  cer- 
tainly so  watch  and  supervise  everything  that  the  insurgents  could 
not  secure  undue  advantage  in  terms  of  surrender  nor  succeed  in 
grasping  by  diplomacy  what  they  had  failed  to  win  by  battle. 

He  paced  the  floor  in  suppressed  excitement,  reading  again  and 
again  the  terms  of  the  "agreement,"  which  he  could  scarcely  credit, 
picturing  the  chaos  and  contention  that  must  follow  the  sanction  of 
an  instrument  which  reversed  the  laws,  annulled  the  proclamations, 
and  neutralized  the  sacrifices  and  bloodshed  of  four  years  of  war- 
fare. He  wanted  to  make  short  work  of  the  cabinet  meeting ;  was 
eager  to  send  off  his  orders  and  advise  the  people  that  no  misstep 
would  be  permitted. 

When  8  o'clock  arrived,  he  was  ready  with  his  telegrams  and 
papers  and,  with  overwhelming  impetuosity,  stated  the  case,  out- 
lined his  program,  and  enforced  his  views.  No  one  was  able  to 
object ;  his  plan  was  confirmed,  and  he  returned  to  the  War  De- 
partment to  execute  it,  after  requesting  Grant  to  call  a  little  later. 
"It  was  9  o'clock  at  night,"  says  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  who  was 
present,  "when  Mr.  Stanton  returned  to  the  War  Department  from 
that  cabinet  meeting,  and  at  once  called  in  General  Eckert  and  said 
to  him :  'Hold  all  the  telegraph  offices  of  the  country  open  till  mid- 
night.' " 

General  Grant  then  came  into  the  Secretary's  room  and  after 
some  conversation  received  a  letter  of  instructions  and  orders  to 
go  to  Raleigh,  N.  C.,  and  take  charge  of  the  army.  He  sailed  that 
night  for  Raleigh  in  the  steamer  which  brought  the  despatches  from 
General  Sherman.  "He  did  not  want  to  go,"  says  Major  Johnson, 
"and  felt  hurt  in  having  to  go." 

"General  Grant  did  not  wish  to  go  in  person  to  interfere  with 
General  Sherman,"  says  Quartermaster-General  M.  C.  Meigs.  "He 
did  not  seem  to  consider  the  matter  of  much  moment,  and,  at  the 
worst,  regarded  the  army  as  supreme  in  the  land,  'agreement'  or 


266  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

no  'agreement.'  He  hesitated  and  Mr.  Stanton  turned  to  me  say- 
ing: 'General  Meigs,  you  go  with  General  Grant;  my  carriage  is 
at  the  door.'  I  cheerfully  assented  and  we  drove  rapidly  to  the 
wharf.  The  General  said  very  little  and  seemed  taciturn ;  but,  on 
returning,  he  was  more  cheerful  and  admitted  guardedly  that  he 
'supposed  Secretary  Stanton  was  right.'  " 

As  soon  as  Grant  departed  for  Raleigh,  Stanton  gave  to  the 
public  by  telegraph  the  Sherman-Johnston  "agreement"  and  the 
following  nine  reasons  (together  with  his  telegram  of  March  3  to 
Grant)  why  that  "agreement"  had  been  rejected  and  the  simple 
terms  accorded  by  Grant  to  Lee  substituted : 

1.  It  was  an  exercise  of  authority  not  vested  in  General  Sherman, 
and,  on  its  face,  shows  that  both  he  and  Johnston  knew  that  General  Sher- 
man had  no  authority  to  enter  into  any  such  an  agreement. 

2.  It  was  a  practical  acknowledgment  of  the  rebel  government. 

3.  It  undertook  to  reestablish  State  governments  that  had  been  over- 
thrown at  the  sacrifice  of  many  thousands  of  loyal  lives  and  an  immense 
treasure,  and  placed  arms  and  munitions  of  war  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels  at 
their  respective  capitals,  which  might  be  used,  as  soon  as  the  armies  of  the 
United  States  were  disbanded,  to  conquer  and  subdue  loj^al  States. 

4.  By  the  restoration  of  rebel  authority  in  their  respective  States,* 
they  would  be  enabled  to  reestablish  slavery. 

5.  It  might  furnish  a  ground  of  responsibility  on  the  part  of  the 
Federal  Government  to  pay  the  rebel  debt,  and  certainly  subject  loyal  citi- 
zens of  rebellious  States  to  debts  contracted  by  the  rebels  in  the  name  of 
the  State. 

6.  It  put  in  dispute  the  existence  of  loyal  State  governments,  and  the 
new  State  of  West  Virginia,  which  has  been  recognized  by  every  depart- 
ment of  the  United  States  Government. 

7.  It  practically  abolished  confiscation  laws,  and  relieved  rebels  of 
every  degree,  who  have  slaughtered  our  people,  from  all  pains  and  penalties 
for  their  crimes. 

8.  It  gave  terms  that  had  been  deliberately,  repeatedly,  and  solemnly 
rejected  by  President  Lincoln,  and  better  terms  than  the  rebels  had  ever 
asked  in  their  most  prosperous  condition. 

9.  It  formed  no  basis  of  true  and  lasting  peace,  but  relieved  rebels 
from  the  presence  of  our  victorious  armies  and  left  them  in  a  condition  to 
renew  their  efforts  to  overthrow  the  United   States   Government  and  sub- 


*In  a  letter  from  Raleigh  to  General  J.  E.  Johnston,  on  April  21,  1865, 
General  Sherman  said,  among  other  things  of  the  same  trend:  "I  shall  look 
for  General  Hitchcock  back  from  Washington  on  Wednesday  and  shall 
promptly  notify  you  of  the  result.  By  the  action  of  General  Weitzel  in 
relation  to  the  Virginia  legislature  [see  chapter  XLVL],  I  feel  certain  we 
will  have  no  trouble  on  the  score  of  recognizing  [Confederate]  State  gov- 
ernments." 


THE  SURRENDER— A  RESCUING  HAND  267 

due   the   loyal  States  whenever  their  strength  should  be   recruited  and  an 
opportunity  ofifered.* 

Reaching  Moorhead  City,  North  Carolina,  on  April  23,  Grant 
despatched  the  substance  of  Stanton's  instructions  to  Sherman,  who 
transmitted  their  purport  to  Johriston,  adding  a  notification  that 
the  truce  would  close  forty-eight  hours  after  the  receipt  thereof  and 
demanding  that  the  Confederate  army  be  forthwith  surrendered. 
Johnston  requested  another  conference,  which  was  held  on  the  25th, 
when  the  terms  of  surrender  accorded  to  Lee  were  agreed  upon  and 
approved  by  Grant. 

Sherman  and  his  partisans  and  IMcClellan  and  his  writers  have 
been  unsparing  in  their  denunciation  of  the  part  Stanton  played  in 
this  incident,  yet  no  one  has  sustained  the  Secretary  so  thoroughly 
as  Sherman  himself.  In  a  letter  of  April  15,  to  Stanton,  he  wrote : 
"I  will  give  the  same  terms  General  Grant  gave  General  Lee  and 
be  careful  not  to  complicate  any  points  of  civil  policy." 

Three  days  later,  under  the  personal  influence  of  General  John- 
ston and  John  C.  Breckinridge,  he  did  the  very  thing  he  said  he 
wovdd  not  do,  and,  in  transmitting  his  "agreement,"  wrote  request- 
ing General  Halleck  to  see  President  Johnson  and  "influence  him, 
if  possible,  not  to  vary  the  terms  at  all,  for  I  have  considered  every- 
thing!" He  also  requested  Grant  to  ask  the  President  to  "commis- 
sion" him  to  "carry  out  the  terms !"  On  the  following  day,  before 
the  terms  were  known  outside  of  Richmond  and  his  own  staff, 
Sherman  assumed  them  to  be  final  and  published  a  rejoicing  order  to 
the  country  announcing  "an  agreement  with  General  Johnston  and 
other  high  officials  [Jefferson  Davis,  John  C.  Breckinridge,  and  J.  H. 
Reagan]  which,  when  formally  ratified,  will  make  peace  from  the 
Potomac  to  the  Rio  Grande."  .  Immediately  afterward,  having  had 
his  "agreement"  peremptorily  and  entirely  reversed  and  having  re- 
ceived Grant's  views,  he  wrote  to  Stanton  on  the  25th :  "/  admit 
my  folly  in  embracing  in  a  military  convention  any  civil  matter."'^    Later 


*Jefferson  Davis  agreed  exactly  with  Stanton  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 
terms  of  surrender.  On  April  23,  while  waiting  for  their  approval  at  Wash- 
ington, he  wrote:  "To  us  they  are  hard  enough,  tho'  freed  from  wanton 
humiliation  and  expressly  recognising  the  Confederate  State  governments,  and 
the  rights  of  persons  and  property  [slaves]  as  secured  by  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States  and  of  the  several  States." 


tOn    April    27,    the    newspapers    being   filled    with    comments    upon    the 
'agreement,"  John  Sherman  wrote  at  length   from   Cleveland   in   behalf  of 


268  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

the  sledge-hammer  character  of  the  nine  reasons,  which  were  pre- 
pared and  sent  out  without  the  knowledge  of  the  President  or  the 
cabinet,  began  to  dawn  upon  him,  and  a  flood  of  furious  censure  by 
the  press  for  having  been  "trapped"  into  signing  the  "agreement" 
came  pouring  in. 

Besides,  Grant,  who  attended  the  cabinet  meeting  at  which 
the  terms  were  reversed,  committed  the  grave  breach  of  informing 
Sherman  that  in  that  meeting  Stanton  declared  them  to  be  "little 
short  of  treason."  The  General  now  became  overwhelmingly  in- 
censed. At  the  Grand  Review,  a  few  days  afterwards,  he  undertook 
to  avenge  himself  by  publicly  insulting  Stanton,  his  superior,  for 
having  overridden,  in  the  interest  of  their  common  country,  what 
he  himself,  in  his  letter  of  April  25,  had  correctly  described  as  his 
"folly." 


his  brother,  saying  to  Stanton  among  other  tilings:  "T  am  distressed  be- 
yond measure  at  the  terms  granted  to  Johnston  by  General  Sherman.  They 
are  inadmissible.  I  will  gladly  go  to  Washington  or  anywhere  else  where 
I  can  render  the  least  service.  I  do  not  want  General  Sherman  to  be  un- 
justly dealt  with,  and  I  know  you  will  not  permit  it;  and  especially  I  do 
not  want  him  drawn  into  fellowship  with  the  copperheads.  You  can,  if  you 
choose,  show  this  to  the  President,  or  indeed  to  any  one" 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 
LINCOLN'S  COLOSSAL  BLUNDER  RECTIFIED. 

Assistant-Secretary  C.  A.  Dana,  with  Quartermaster-General 
M.  C.  Meigs,  was  at  City  Point  when  the  President  entered  Rich- 
mond after  its  fall,  during  the  morning  of  April  4,  1865.  In  the  col- 
umns of  the  paper  announcing  his  coming  was  an  official  statement 
that  Lincoln  had  instructed  General  Godfrey  Weitzel  to  permit  the 
insurgent  legislature  of  Virginia  to  assemble  at  once.* 

General  Meigs  discovered  the  announcement  and  handed  it  to 
Dana,  who  despatched  the  facts  to  Stanton.  On  receiving  them 
Stanton  telegraphed  private  instructions  to  Dana  to  prevent  Gen- 
eral Weitzel  from  taking  any  action  under  the  "permit"  until  further 
orders.  Lincoln  returned  (at  Stanton's  confidential  request)  and 
consulted  with  Stanton,  when  General  Weitzel  was  ordered  to  coun- 
termand the  "permit." 

Judge  Campbell,  in  a  written  report  to  the  insurgent  legisla- 
ture, concerning  his  interview  with  Lincoln,  avers  that  the  Presi- 
dent stated:  "If  the  government  of  Virginia  will  administer  the 
laws  in  connection  with  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  no 
attempt  will  be  made  to  establish  or  sustain  any  other  authority." 
Here  was  one  of  the  great  political  crises  of  the  war,  and  Stanton 


♦Before  the  night  of  the  day  on  which  Richmond  fell,  Lincoln  had  a 
long  conference  with  John  A.  Campbell  (a  justice  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  who  had  resigned  in  1861  to  cast  his  fortunes  with  the  Con- 
federacy) in  reference  to  rehabilitating  the  State  of  Virginia  by  means  of  a 
"permit"  which  (together  with  a  guiding  memorandum  to  Judge  Campbell) 
he  gave  to  General  Weitzel  as  follows:  "It  is  intimated  to  me  that  the  gen- 
tlemen who  have  acted  as  the  legislature  in  support  of  the  Rebellion  may 
now  desire  to  assemble  at  Richmond  and  take  measures  to  withdraw  the 
Virginia  troops  and  other  support  of  resistance  to  the  general  Government. 
If  they  attempt  it,  give  them  permission  and  protection,  until,  if  at  all,  they 
attempt  some  act  hostile  to  the  United  States  in  which  case  you  will  notify 
them,  give  them  reasonable  time  to  leave,  and  at  the  end  of  which  time 
arrest  any  one  who  remains.  Allow  Judge  Campbell  to  see  this,  but  do 
not  make  it  public." 


270  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

lifted  the  administration  and  the  nation  from  the  engulfing  danger 
by  main  strength.* 

Had  the  legislature  been  allowed  to  assemble  and  proceed  un- 
bridled as  if  nothing  had  happened  since  1860,  a  precedent  would 
have  been  set  for  recognizing  all  the  insurgent  legislatures — in  not 
one  of  which  could  be  found  a  Union  man — and  the  fruits  of  the 
war  would  have  been  nullified. 

Lincoln  alone  failed  to  see  the  import  of  his  blunder.  The  sub- 
officers  of  the  army  saw  it ;  the  Confederates  understood  and 
planned  for  it,  and  General  Sherman  quoted  it  as  a  justification  for 
the  destructive  terms  of  surrender  which  he  had  just  ofifered  to 
General  J.  E.  Johnston.  In  his  letter  of  April  23,  1865  (before  he 
had  received  Stanton's  reversal  of  his  terms  or  was  aware  that  the 
permit  to  assemble  the  insurgent  legislature  of  Virginia  had  been 
countermanded),  General  Sherman  wrote  to  Johnston:  "I  send  you 
a  late  paper  showing  that  the  P^irghua  State  authorities  are  acknoivl- 
edged  and  invited  to  resume  their  lawful  functions."  Lincoln  and 
Sherman  labored  under  the  same  disability ;  they  could  not  see  that 
an  insurgent  and  absolutely  unlawful  legislature  never  could  have, 
under  the  Government  they  had  rebelled  against,  any  "lawful  func- 
tions" to  "resume." 

The  latter  has  suffered  severely  in  history  on  account  of  his 
attempt  to  fix  the  political  status  of  the  rebellious  sections  by  a 
mere  military  stipulation  with  an  insurgent  commander ;  yet  Sher- 
man was  only  a  soldier,  whose  terms  could  be,  as  they  were,  re- 
versed and  annulled,  while  Lincoln  was  president  of  the  United 
States  and  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  with  supreme 
discretion  in  military  affairs.  Therefore,  when,  by  the  secret  letter 
to  General  Weitzel,  he  undertook  to  hand  over  to  the  Virginia  legis- 
lature that  which  the  Confederate  armies  had  been  unable  to  secure 
by  four  years  of  war,  he  entered  the  vortex  leading  to  destruction, 
for  there  was  no  one  above  him  to  countermand  his  orders. 

Stanton,  however,  always  potential  in  emergencies,  urged  his 
return  to  Washington,  freed  his  mind  from  error  and  prevented  a 
political  catastrophe.     Stanton  alone  understood  Lincoln ;  he  alone 


*"I  received  instructions  from  'Mr.  Stanton,"  says  Charles  A.  Dana,  then 
assistant  secretary  of  war,  "to  gather  all  papers,  information,  and  documents 
I  could  find  at  the  fall  of  Richmond  and  to  keep  as  close  as  possible  to  Mr. 
Lincoln  for  the  purpose  of  watching  and  reporting.  The  great  end  was  near 
and  Mr.  Stanton  was  determined  to  prevent  steps  or  proceedings  of  any 
kind  that  might  prove  destructive  or  embarrassing  in  the  future." 


Gen.  John  M.  Schofiei.d. 


LINCOLN'S  COLOSSAL  BLUNDER  RECTIFIED  271 

possessed  the  courage  to  prevent  the  President's  misconception  from 
reinvolving  the  Government  in  blood.  Congress  made  an  investiga- 
tion of  the  matter,  during  which  Stanton,  under  oath,  testified  inter- 
estingly as  follows : 

The  order  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  April  12,  on  file  in  the  War  Department, 
is  the  last  order  he  ever  made  of  which  I  have  any  knowledge.  It  was  the 
last  time  he  was  in  the  War  Department. 

Immediately  after  the  capture  of  Richmond,  Mr.  Lincoln  went  to  that 
city  and  some  intercourse  took  place  between  him  and  Judge  Campbell, 
formerly  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  General  Weitzel, 
which  resulted  in  the  call  of  the  rebel  legislature  to  Richmond.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, on  his  return  from  Richmond  to  Washington,  reconsidered  the  mat- 
ter. 

The  policy  of  undertaking  to  restore  the  Government  through  the  me- 
dium of  rebel  organization  was  vehemently  opposed  by  me.  I  had  several  very 
earnest  conversations  with  Mr.  Lincoln  upon  the  subject  and  advised  him 
that  any  effort  to  reorganize  the  Government  should  be  under  Federal  au- 
thority solely,  treating  the  rebel  organizations  and  government  as  abso- 
lutely null  and  void. 

On  the  day  preceding  his  death  a  conversation  took  place  between  him, 
the  Attorney-General,  and  myself  upon  that  subject  at  the  executive  man- 
sion. After  an  hour  or  two,  during  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln came  over  to  the  War  Department  and  renewed  the  conversation.  After 
I  had  repeated  my  reasons  against  allowing  the  rebel  legislature  to  as- 
semble, or  the  rebel  organizations  to  have  any  participation  whatever  in 
the  business  of  reorganization,  he  sat  down  at  my  desk  and  wrote  a  tele- 
gram to  General  Weitzel  and  handed  it  to  me,  saj'ing:  "There,  I  think  that 
will  suit  you." 

I  told  him  no,  it  did  not  go  far  enough;  that  the  members  of  the  rebel 
legislature  would  probably  come  to  Richmond  and  that  General  Weitzel 
ought  to  be  directed  to  prohibit  any  such  assembling. 

He  took  up  his  pen  again  and  made  the  alteration  and  signed  the  tele- 
gram. He  handed  it  to  me.  I  said,  that,  I  thought,  was  exactly  right.  It 
was  transmitted  immediately  to  General  Weitzel,  and  was  the  last  act  that 
was  ever  performed  by  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  War  Department. 

Some  of  the  other  rebel  States,  after  the  surrender  of  the  rebel  armies, 
called  together  their  legislatures,  and,  either  pursuant  to  instructions  from 
the  War  Department  or  on  their  own  discretion,  the  commandants  pro- 
hibited the  assembling  of  those  bodies. 

The  rebel  authorities  were  all  overthrown  and  destroyed,  as  I  under- 
stood the  case,  by  the  war,  by  the  capture  of  their  armies  and  their  States. 

The  only  witness  of  the  last  great  interview  between  Lincoln 
and  Stanton,  the  interview  which  saved  the  nation  from  Charybdis 
and  the  President  from  ignominy,  is  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  who 


^72  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

thus  comprehensively  describes  the  momentous  occasion  from  pre- 
cious notes  taken  by  him  on  the  spot: 

In  the  afternoon  about  5  o'clock  the  President  came  over  to  the  War 
Department,  and  it  was  while  sitting  on  the  sofa  in  the  Secretary's  room 
looking  towards  my  desk,  that  Mr.  Stanton  told  the  President  why  he  should 
not  turn  over  the  determination  of  such  grave  matters  to  the  Virginia  legis- 
lature. It  was  then  that  Mr.  Stanton  again  urged  his  plea  that  the  reorgani- 
zation of  the  seceded  States  should  be  under  I'ederal  authority.  He  told  the 
President  that  the  conqueror  and  not  the  conquered  should  control  the  State 
in  the  matter  which  was  vital  for  all  time;  that  to  place  such  powers  in  the 
Virginia  legislature  would  be  giving  away  the  scepter  of  the  conqueror;  that 
it  would  transfer  the  result  of  victory  of  our  arms  from  the  field  to  the  very 
legislatures  which  four  years  before  had  said,  "give  us  war";  that  it  would 
put  the  Government  in  the  hands  of  its  enemies;  that  it  would  surely  bring 
trouble  with  Congress;  that  the  people  would  not  sustain  him;  that  it  would 
disturb  the  harmony  between  the  executive  and  Congress;  that  reconstruc- 
tion would  have  to  deal  with  the  new  conditions  of  things,  among 
which  would  be  a  change  in  the  basis  of  representation  now  that  all  the 
blacks  were  free;  that  it  would  have  to  deal  with  the  debts  of  the  Federal 
and  the  Confederate  Governments;  that  in  all  this  the  Southern  legislatures 
would  be  in  the  ascendency,  and  the  political  power  of  the  South  increased; 
that  the  fate  of  the  emancipated  millions  would  be  solely  under  the  con- 
trol of  such  legislatures;  that  the  result  of  the  war  would  go  for  nothing 
if  those  results  were  to  be  determined  by  the  enemies  of  the  Government; 
that  it  would  be  better  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  rebel  legislatures;  that 
the  Virginia  legislature  was  dead  and  could  not  again  assemble  at  Rich- 
mond without  permission  of  the  Government,  and  to  bring  to  life  a  dead 
legislature  would  bring  endless  trouble  to  the  Government  and  to  recon- 
struction; that,  in  fact,  it  would  defeat  any  reconstruction,  because  Con- 
gress would  not  sanction  any  government  established  by  it;  that,  being 
once  assembled,  its  deliberations  could  not  be  confined  to  any  specific  acts, 
and  that  to  disperse  it  would  produce  another  rebellion;  that  the  Virginia 
legislature  should  be  ignored  even  in  the  capacity  of  its  members  as  citi- 
zens for  any  purpose. 

In  pleading  with  the  President — I  can  see  the  Secretary  now,  earnest 
and  full  of  feeling  and  the  President  listening  in  profound  thought,  saying 
not  a  word — the  Secretary's  manner  was  not  his  usual  manner;  it  was  argu- 
mentative. The  President  had  no  story  to  illustrate  his  position  or  that 
of  his  Secretary.  It  was  a  solemn  occasion,  and  upon  that  interview  hung 
the  destiny  of  reconstruction,  of  peace,  and  orderly  government  for  the 
Southern  people,  and  Mr.  Stanton  prevailed! 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 
CELEBRATING  AND  REJOICING. 

On  Tuesday,  April  4,  following  the  fall  of  Richmond,  Wash- 
ington was  wild  with  music,  guns,  speeches,  rockets,  and  bonfires. 
The  War  Department  was  the  center  of  attraction.  The  building 
was  alive  with  fire  from  basement  to  tholus,  and  in  the  court  colored 
lights  of  immense  power  turned  a  complete  drapery  of  silken  fiags 
into  a  bower  of  patriotic  splendor.  In  the  center,  jets  of  flame  gave 
life  to  the  words,  "THE  UNION:  IT  MUST  AND  SHALL  BE 
PRESERVED."  Beneath  this  motto  a  spirited  American  eagle 
grasped  in  his  beak  the  significant  word,  "RICHMOND."  Stan- 
ton's residence  was  superbly  decorated  with  flags,  flowers,  ever- 
greens, lanterns,  and  gas  jets  and  was  visited  by  thousands  of  people 
who  cheered  and  serenaded  the  Secretary  repeatedly. 

At  9  :20  on  the  evening  of  the  9th,  Stanton  received  a  telegram 
from  Grant  advising  him  officially  of  the  capitulation  of  Lee.  As 
soon  as  he  had  sent  bulletins  of  the  glorious  news  to  General  Dix 
in  New  York,  and  forwarded  the  famous  telegram  of  thanks  to 
Grant,  he  ''Ordered,  That  a  salute  of  two  hundred  guns  be  fired  at  the 
headquarters  of  every  army  and  Department  and  at  every  post  and 
arsenal  in  the  United  States  and  at  the  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point,  on  the  receipt  of  this  order,  in  commemoration  of  the  surren- 
der of  General  R.  E.  Lee  and  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia  to 
Lieutenant-General  Grant  and  the  army  under  his  command." 
States,  cities,  towns,  villages,  and  crossroads  hastened  to  recognize 
the  order  and  thus  began,  with  the  mightiest  roar  of  artillery  ever 
heard  on  the  continent,  the  second  celebration  which  culminated  in 
Washington  on  the  12th. 

Again  Stanton  led  and  again  the  War  Department  and  the  Sec- 
retary's residence  fixed  the  standard  in  the  art  of  patriotic  decora- 
tion. The  windows  of  the  Department  were  solid  sheets  of  light; 
the  front  was  covered  with  flags,  banners,  evergreens,  and  corps 
badges ;  over  the  balcony  was  a  large  semi-circle  of  binnocles ;  be- 
neath the  arc,  in  letters  of  flame,  was  the  word,  "GRANT." 


274  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTOxN 

Music,  speeches,  parades,  and  fireworks  entertained  the  masses 
everywhere  and  three  mihtary  bands  and  a  vast  concourse  of  people 
gathered  about  his  residence  to  do  special  honor  to  Stanton.  Thrice 
the  multitude  raised  a  great  shout  and  thrice  he  led  forth  General 
Grant  (who  was  his  guest)  to  receive  the  resounding  acclaims  that 
were  intended  for  himself! 

On  the  evening  of  the  13th  the  third  and  final  illumination  took 
place,  far  surpassing  previous  efforts  in  variety,  design,  and  extent. 
Even  men  who  had  been  supposed  to  be  disloyal  became  infected 
with  the  general  enthusiasm  and  decorated  their  houses.  Arling- 
ton, across  the  Potomac  from  Washington,  the  splendid  estate  of 
General  Lee  that  had  been  confiscated  by  the  Government,  was 
magnificently  illuminated,  in  tragic  contrast  to  the  fate  of  the  form- 
er owner;  the  streets  and  outlets  were  ablaze  with  bonfires,  and 
speeches,  marching  bands,  and  military  manoeuvres  enlivened  the 
parks  and  avenues. 

As  before,  the  War  Department  was  the  center  of  attraction 
and  admiration  and  again  the  Secretary's  residence  was  gorgeously 
decorated  and  illuminated.  In  the  midst  of  myriads  of  lights,  fiags, 
wreaths,  and  ensigns  with  which  the  War  Department  building  was 
covered,  the  name  of  Grant  again  shone  in  sheets  of  fire  above  the 
portico ;  while  high  over  all,  as  if  suspended  by  unseen  hands  from 
above,  in  letters  of  softly  subdued  light,  hung  the  sweet  and  healing 
word,  "PEACE." 

The  war  was  over.  The  iron  hand  that  had  pursued  and  smote 
with  fearful  energy  now  led  all  others  in  hoisting  over  the  very 
heart  of  military  power  the  gracious  banner  of  reconciliation. 
Amidst  the  roar,  the  fiame.  and  the  blaze  of  triumphant  rejoicing, 
Stanton  did  not  forget  the  South.  He  held  aloft,  so  they  might  be- 
hold it  above  the  noisy  blare  of  victory,  the  guiding  star  of  hope  to 
cheer  them  amidst  the  ashes  of  their  defeat  and  invite  them  back 
to  fraternity,  unity,  prosperity,  and   greatness. 

The  following  day,  April  14,  under  Stanton's  orders,  the  officers 
of  the  Federal  Government,  with  elaborate  ceremonial,  raised  over 
the  ruins  of  Fort  Sumter  the  flag  that,  four  years  ago  on  that  day, 
had  been  struck  down  by  the  opening  assaults  of  armed  secession. 
General  Robert  Anderson,  who  commanded  on  April  14,  1861,  was 
present  and  unfurled  the  stained  but  triumphant  banner  over  the 
battered  citadel,  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher  delivered  his  great  peace 
oration. 


CELEBRATING  AND  REJOICING  275 

In  the  evening,  after  the  celebration,  General  Gilmore,  in  com- 
mand of  the  Charleston  district,  gave  a  dinner  at  the  Charleston 
House  to  the  Government's  guests.  Joseph  Holt  was  present  to 
represent  Stanton  and  when,  in  an  eloquent  and  patriotic  address,  he 
referred  to  the  "lion-like  courage"  with  which  the  great  Secretary- 
had  "fought  the  Rebellion  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of  its  career,"  there 
was  enthusiastic  cheering. 

Stanton  had  suggested  that  the  same  commander  (Anderson) 
hoist  the  same  old  flag  and  the  same  chaplain  (Reverend  Mr.  Har- 
ris) offer  prayer  at  the  rehabilitation  in  order  to  "put  things  back  as 
they  were  four  years  before,"  thus  vindicating  "Old  Glory"  and  add- 
ing double  emphasis  to  the  idea  of  an  indestructible  Union. 

Originally  he  expected  to  attend  the  celebration,  but  had  re- 
cently been  compelled  to  avert  so  many  catastrophes  that  he  feared 
to  leave  Washington,  and  said  to  Joseph  Holt :  "I  cannot  go.  It 
is  not  safe.  No  one  can  tell  what  may  happen.  You  go  and  stand 
and  speak  for  me,  and  God's  blessing  be  upon  the  gallant  ofBcers 
who  will  be  there  and  upon  the  flag  and  the  nation !" 

At  the  very  moment  that  Judge  Holt  was  standing  and  speak- 
ing as  ordered  at  old  Sumter,  one  assassin  was  lurking  in  Stanton's 
vestibule,  another  was  cutting  at  the  throat  of  Seward,  and  the  third 
sent  a  death-shot  through  the  brain  of  President  Lincoln ! 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

LINCOLN  ASSASSINATED— STANTON  AS  ACTING-PRESI- 
DENT. 

For  nearly  two  years  there  was  an  active  conspiracy  to  kidnap 
President  Lincoln  and  his  cabinet.*  At  one  time  the  conspirators 
believed  they  had  their  hands  on  Stanton  and  at  least  twice  they 
could  have  made  off  with  Lincoln ;  but  no  opportunity  ever  offered 
for  executing  the  plan  to  capture  the  entire  executive  force  at  a 
single  sortie. 

A  plan  to  kidnap  Stanton  and  take  him  to  Richmond  was  en- 
trusted to  a  secession  band  with  headquarters  on  the  Saunders  farm 
in  West  Virginia,  about  six  miles  from  the  Ohio  River.  A  sharp  and 
nervy  young  woman  made  regular  trips  to  Steubenville,  Ohio,  for 
the  purpose  of  reporting  to  the  band  any  visit  which  Stanton  might 
be  about  to  make  to  that  city.  She  was  frequently  accompanied  by 
a  neighbor  of  Union  sentiments  named  \V.  R.  Burgoyne  (now  of 
Steubenville),  who  was  aware  that  she  was  doing  secret  work  for 
the  Confederates.  Finally,  she  learned  that  Stanton  had  arrived  and 
intended  on  Saturday  to  accompany  Dr.  William  Stanton  over  the 
river  into  West  Virginia.  Arrangements  were  made  to  capture 
him,  but  an  urgent  telegram  from  W^ashington  caused  him  to  return 
forthwith.  Thus  he  escaped.  "I  learned  years  afterward  from  a 
leading  secessionist,"  says  ]\Ir.  Burgoyne,  "that  the  preparations 
made  to  take  IMr.  Stanton  to  Richmond  were  so  ample  that  failure 
would  have  been  practically  out  of  the  question." 

The  executive  head  of  the  kidnapping  movement  was  John 
Wilkes  Booth,  a  mercurial,  high-strung,  and  convivial  actor,  whose 


*A  body  of  preachers  called  upon  Stanton  and  suggested  that  if  Jef- 
ferson Davis  were  captured  and  brought  to  the  Old  Capitol  Prison,  the 
Rebellion  would  soon  fall  to  pieces;  and  that  they  wished  personally  to  aid 
in  the  venture.  In  order  to  satisfy  his  callers,  who  were  headed  by  the 
Reverend  Byron  Sunderland,  Stanton  ordered  Colonel  W.  P.  Wood  to 
Richmond  to  investigate  the  project.  In  about  a  week  Wood  reported  that 
the  scheme  was  impracticable  and  undignified,  and  that  ended  the  matter. 


Abraham  Lincoln. 


STANTON  AS  ACTING-PRESIDENT  277 

secession  sentiments  were  so  intense  as  to  almost  unbalance  his 
mind.  His  backers  advocated  kidnapping;  he  himself  preferred  poi- 
soning. He  wrote  with  a  diamond  on  a  pane  of  glass  in  a  hotel  at 
Meadville,  Pennsylvania :  "Abraham  Lincoln  departed  this  life  in 
November,  1864,  by  poison."  Although  prolific  in  plans  and  threats, 
he  constantly  failed  in  execution.  However,  the  fall  of  Richmond, 
the  surrender  of  Lee,  and  the  flight  of  Jefferson  Davis,  accentuated 
by  the  tumultuous  and  exultant  celebration  in  Washington  which 
followed  those  events,  raised  him  to  an  unusual  pitch  of  frenzy.  He 
passed  rapidly  from  place  to  place  in  Washington,  drinking  heavily 
and  talking  vengeance  vehemently. 

Shortly  before  noon  of  the  day  of  the  assassination  (April  14), 
he  met  John  Francis  Coyle,  editor  of  the  National  Intelligencer,  and 
invited  him  to  join  in  a  bottle  of  wine  at  the  Club.  While  they  were 
partaking.  Booth  declaimed  angrily  against  the  Government  and  the 
North,  exclaiming: 

"Coyle,  what  would  happen  if  Lincoln  were  removed?" 

"You  would  have  Andrew  Johnson,  not  so  good  a  man  as  Lin- 
coln, for   president." 

"What  if  Andrew  Johnson,  too,  were  dead?" 

"The  president  of  the  Senate  would  succeed  as  president." 

"What  if  Lincoln,  his  cabinet^  and  all  the  constitutional  succes- 
sors were  out  of  the  way?" 

"You  would  have  anarchy — but  what  are  you  talking  about? 
There  are  no  Brutuses  in  these  days." 

"That's  so ;  no  Brutuses  in  these  days." 

Here  the  conversation  ended  and  the  acquaintances  parted, 
the  incident  passing  at  once  out  of  Mr.  Coyle's  mind.  "Booth," 
says  Mr.  Coyle,  "was  of  peculiar  temperament.  He  was  crazy  on 
secession.  My  wife,  a  native  of  Baltimore,  was  a  hearty  secession- 
ist, and  Booth  frequently  came  to  the  house  to  draw  comfort  from 
her,  talking  the  same  wild  nonsense,  as  I  always  supposed,  that 
characterized  his  conversation  with  me  at  the  Club.  I  never  at- 
tached the  lightest  weight  to  his  vaporings  and  never  had  a  thought 
that  he  was  not  harmless." 

Wrought  up  intensely  by  the  trend  of  affairs.  Booth  continued 
his  libations  and  very  soon  afterwards,  perhaps  at  3  o'clock  P.  M., 
having  seen  an  announcement  that  Lincoln  and  Grant  would  attend 
the  theatre  that  night,  brought  his  accomplices  swiftly  together  and 
gave  orders  for  them  to  execute,  as  previously  agreed  and  rehearsed, 


278  EDWIN  MciMASTERS  STANTON 

their  respective  parts  in  the  bloody  deed  which  a  few  hours  later 
shocked  all  mankind. 

His  plan,  which  recently  had  been  changed  from  kidnapping  to 
murder,  was  to  assassinate  President  Lincoln,  Vice-President  John- 
son, General  Grant,  Stanton,  and  others  of  the  cabinet,  and  thus 
bring  on,  as  Coyle  had  explained  to  him,  a  reign  of  anarchy. 

For  startling  climax,  history  afifords  hardly  a  parallel  to  this 
over-awing  tragedy.  Richmond,  the  Confederate  capital,  had  fallen  ; 
Lee  had  surrendered  and  his  starving  men  and  horses  were  being 
fed  by  Grant's  commissaries ;  "President"  Davis  was  skulking 
through  the  Southern  forests ;  the  old  flag,  amidst  toasts,  songs,  and 
banquet  speeches,  was  being  hoisted  over  Fort  Sumter  by  the  same 
hands  that,  four  years  before,  were  forced  by  secession  bombard- 
ment to  haul  it  down ;  the  Federal  capital  was  a  scene  of  unmatched 
jubilation;  Stanton,  throwing  off  his  iron  mask,  was  trotting  about 
in  exhilarated  joy  ;  Lincoln  was  disporting  himself  in  boyish  glee, 
and  cannons  were  booming,  bands  playing,  bonfires  burning,  pro- 
cessions marching,  flags  flying,  congregations  giving  thanks,  and 
the  masses  singing  and  shouting  from  ocean  to  ocean. 

At  such  a  moment,  Booth,  whose  ill-balanced  brain  was  fired 
with  brandy,  entered  Ford's  Theatre  on  Tenth  Street,  in  which  he 
had  often  been  an  actor,  where  Lincoln  and  his  party  were  enjoying 
"Our  American  Cousin."  Advancing  to  the  Presidential  box,  for 
he  knew  the  way  perfectly,  he  placed  the  pistol  close  to  the  Presi- 
dent's head  and  fired.  The  explosion  was  not  loud  and  attracted  no 
attention,  the  audience  supposing  that  it  emanated  properly  from 
the  stage. 

Simultaneously  with  an  outcry  from  the  box  a  moment  later, 
Booth  leaped  to  the  footlights,  the  concussion  breaking  his  ankle 
and  throwing  him  nearly  prostrate.*  Swinging  his  pistol  aloft  from 
his  recumbent  position,  he  shouted,  "Sic  Semper  Tyrannis !"  Then, 
scrambling  to  his  feet  and  limping  from  the  stage,  he  reached  and 
mounted  a  horse  held  in  waiting  in  the  alley  and  rode  at  breakneck 
speed  over  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Potomac  to  Mrs.  Surratt's 
hotel  at  Surrattsville. 

At  practically  the  same  moment  Lewis  Payne  secured  entrance 
to  the  house  where  Secretary  Seward  was  confined  by  a  recent  acci- 


*If,  as  he  leaped,  he  had  not  caught  his  foot  in  the  American  flag  and 
stumbled,  Booth  would  not  have  broken  his  ankle,  and  if  he  had  not  been 
prippled  he  might  have  successfully  escaped. 


STANTON  AS  ACTING-PRESIDENT  279 

dent  and  assaulted  him  furiously  with  a  poinard.  Frederick  W. 
Seward  and  an  attendant  (Robinson),  who  ran  to  the  rescue,  were 
also  gashed. 

General  Grant  escaped  by  leaving  the  city  for  Burlington,  New 
Jersey,  a  few  hours  before  the  moment  fixed  for  his  assassination, 
and  a  disabled  door-bell  on  Stanton's  house  saved  the  Secretary  of 
War.  Hudson  Taylor  of  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  then  a  resident 
of  Washington,  saw  the  conspirator  attempt  to  enter  Stanton's 
house  at  the  hour  fixed  for  the  attack. 

"I  was  tired  out  and  went  home  early,"  says  Stanton,  "and  was 
in  the  back  room  playing  with  the  children  when  the  man  came  to 
my  steps.  If  the  door-bell  had  rung  it  would  have  been  answered 
and  the  man  admitted,  and  I  no  doubt  would  have  been  attacked ; 
but  the  bell-wire  was  broken  a  day  or  two  before,  and  though  we 
had  endeavored  to  have  it  repaired,  the  bell-hanger  had  put  it  off 
because  of  a  pressure  of  orders." 

Those  who  were  to  assassinate  Vice-President  Johnson  and 
the  remaining  members  of  the  cabinet  either  lost  their  courage  or 
were  prevented  by  insurmountable  circumstances — probably  over- 
intoxication — from  executing  the  parts  assigned  to  them. 

Stanton  was  informed  by  a  messenger  of  the  bloody  work  at 
Seward's  house,  whither  he  sped  with  all  haste.  Finding  Mr.  Sew- 
ard alive  and  learning  there  that  Lincoln  had  been  shot,  he  sprang 
into  the  headquarters  of  General  C.  C.  Augur  (next  to  Seward's 
house)  to  leave  orders  for  him,  as  military  governor,  to  be  alert  with 
his  forces  for  any  possible  emergency,  and  then  ran  to  the  theatre 
on  Tenth  Street.  The  entire  vicinity  was  choked  with  people  who, 
recognizing  the  Secretary,  parted  and  permitted  him  to  enter  the 
house  opposite  the  theatre,  owned  by  William  Petersen,  to  which 
Lincoln  had  been  transferred. 

No  words  can  describe  the  situation  at  this  moment.  Not  a 
sound  was  uttered — hardly  a  head  was  covered  ;  the  air  seemed  to 
breathe  impending  anarchy ;  the  vast  throng  stood  ready  for  ven- 
geance. 

The  supposition  was  universal  that  the  assassination  was  the 
signal  for  a  new  uprising  of  the  Confederacy ;  that  the  hostile  pow- 
ers which  were  supposed  to  be  in  their  expiring  agony  had  suddenly 
risen  from  an  assumed  comatose  condition  to  strike  a  supreme  blow. 
A  general  secession  attack  from  secret  quarters  was  momentarily 
expected,  and  the  people  nerved  themselves  to  meet  it.    Thousands 


280  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

of  Union  soldiers  who  had  recently  arrived  in  the  city  came  out 
armed  as  if  by  magic,  as  did  all  private  citizens.  Throughout  the 
District  the  mysterious  call  of  the  Union  League — two  short,  sharp 
raps  thrice  repeated — sent  every  member  double-quick  to  headquar- 
ters to  declare  himself  ready  for  duty.  The  long  roll  at  the  barracks 
of  the  Black  Horse  squadron  (the  President's  body-guard)  startled 
the  residents  in  that  vicinity  and  brought  the  troopers  flying  to  the 
center.  Every  Federal  officer  and  soldier  in  the  District  sprang  to 
duty ;  the  entire  police  force  was  out  and  the  agents  of  the  Secret 
Service  swarmed  the  alleys  and  scouted  the  roads  leading  out  of 
the  city. 

Stanton  instantly  assumed  charge  of  everything  near  and  re- 
mote, civil  and  military,  and  began  issuing  orders  in  that  autocratic 
manner  so  supremely  necessary  to  the  occasion  and  so  perfectly 
true  to  his  methods,  giving,  during  that  strained  and  terrible  night, 
an  exhibition  of  the  great  qualities  which  had  been  potential  in  sav- 
ing the  nation. 

That  he  should  have  been  present  thus  to  act  as  dictator  is  an 
interesting  manifestation  of  public  fortune.  He  had  expected  to 
deliver  a  speech  at  the  celebration  and  flag-raising  at  Fort  Sumter 
arranged  for  the  same  night.  Some  intuition  led  him  to  send  Joseph 
Holt  in  his  stead,  to  whom  he  said :  "Something  admonishes  me  to 
remain,"  and  on  that  admonition  he  remained! 

Officers  stationed  at  the  door  allowed  no  one  to  enter  and 
squads  of  soldiers  kept  clear  the  space  immediately  in  front  of  the 
Petersen  house.  Stanton  sent  for  David  K.  Cartter,  chief  justice  of 
the  District  of  Columbia,  who,  arriving  at  once,  began  in  an  adjoin- 
ing room  to  take  the  testimony  of  those  who  possessed  any  knowl- 
edge concerning  the  tragedy.  Simultaneously  he  ordered  the  pres- 
ence of  Charles  A.  Dana,  assistant  secretary  of  war,  who,  being  a 
good  stenographic  writer,*  wrote  from  dictation  telegrams  to  all 
parts  of  the  country. 


*"That  night,"  says  Mr.  Dana,  "I  was  awakened  from  a  sound  sleep 
with  the  news  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  shot  and  that  the  Secretary  wanted 
me.  I  found  the  President  lying  unconscious,  though  breathing  heavily,  on 
a  bed  in  a  small  side  room,  while  all  the  members  of  the  cabinet  and  the 
Chief  Justice  with  them,  were  gathered  in  the  adjoining  parlor.  They 
seemed  to  be  almost  as  much  paralyzed  as  the  unconscious  sufferer  within 
the  little  chamber.    Mr.  Stanton  alone  was  in  full  activity. 

"  'Sit  down  here,'  said  he,  'I  want  you.' 

"Then  he  began  to  dictate   orders   one   after   another,   which    I   wrote 


Samuel  Arnold. 


Michael  O'Laughlin. 


George  A.  Atzerott. 


David  E.  Herold.  Edward  Spangler. 

Lincoln  Conspirators. 


STANTON  AS  ACTING-PRESIDENT  281 

He  sent  for  several  army  officers  to  act  as  aides  ;  directed  Gen- 
:ral  Thomas  M.  Vincent  (assistant  adjutant-general)  to  take  charge 
of  afifairs  in  the  Petersen  building;  telegraphed  to  General  Grant  at 
Philadelphia  that  Lincoln  had  been  shot  and  to  return  at  once  to 
Washington ;  issued  orders,  oral  and  written,  to  the  police  and 
military  authorities  of  the  District  to  be  prepared  for  emergencies; 
telegraphed  to  Chief  Kennedy  of  New  York  to  send  on  his  best  de- 
tectives immediately ;  ordered  General  L.  C.  Baker  to  return  from 
New  York  to  search  for  the  assassins ;  soothed  and  cheered  Mrs, 
Lincoln ;  advised  Grant  (at  11 :30)  at  Philadelphia  to  watch  every 
person  approaching  him  and  have  a  detached  locomotive  precede  his 
train  on  its  way  to  Washington ;  ordered  President  Garrett  to  use 
the  utmost  speed  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railway  to  bring  Grant 
to  the  capital ;  wrote  and  despatched  a  note  to  Chief  Justice  Chase, 
saying  the  President  could  not  live  and  to  be  ready  to  administer  the 
oath  of  office  to  Vice-President  Johnson ;  notified  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent that  the  President  was  dying;  and  sent  to  the  people  bulletin 
after  bulletin  concerning  the  tragedy  and  Lincoln's  condition. 

The  bulletins  are  models  of  directness  and  comprehension. 
The  first,  written  with  his  hat  for  a  support,  says  Colonel  A.  F. 
Rockwell,  and  sent  at  11 :30  P.  M.,  is  as  follows : 

This  evening  at  9:30  o'clock,  at  Ford's  Theatre,  the  President,  while 
sitting  in  his  private  box  with  Mrs.  Lincoln,  Miss  Harris,  and  Major  Rath- 
bone,  was  shot  by  an  assassin  who  entered  the  box  and  approached  behind 
the  President.  The  person  then  leaped  upon  the  stage,  brandishing  a  large 
dagger  or  knife,  and  made  his  escape  in  the  rear  of  the  theatre. 

The  pistol  ball  entered  the  back  of  the  President's  head,  and  penetrated 
nearly  through  it.  The  wound  is  mortal.  The  President  has  been  insensible 
ever  since  it  was  inflicted,  and  is  now  dying. 

About  the  same  hour  an  assassin,  whether  the  same  or  not,  entered  Mr. 
Seward's  apartment,  and,  under  a  pretense  of  having  a  prescription,  was 
shown  to  the  Secretary's  sick  chamber.  The  assassin  immediately  rushed 
to  the  bed  and  inflicted  two  or  three  stabs  on  the  throat  and  two  on  the 
face.  It  is  hoped  that  the  wounds  may  not  be  mortal.  My  apprehension 
is  that  they  will  prove  fatal. 

The  nurse  alarmed  Mr.  Frederick  Seward,  who,  from  an  adjoining 
room,  hastened  to  the  door  of  his  father's,  where  he  met  the  assassin,  who 
inflicted  upon  him  one  or  more  dangerous  wounds.     The  recovery  of  Fred- 


out  and  sent  swiftly  to  the  telegraph.  All  these  orders  were  required  to 
keep  the  business  of  the  Government  in  full  motion  till  the  crisis  should  be 
over.  It  was  perhaps  2  o'clock  in  the  morning  before  he  said,  'That'§ 
enough.    Now  go  homf ,'  " 


282  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

erick  Seward  is  doubtful.  It  is  not  probable  that  the  President  will  live 
through  the  night. 

General  Grant  and  his  wife  were  advertised  to  be  at  the  theatre  this 
evening,  but  he  started  to  Burlington  at  6  o'clock. 

This  evening,  at  a  cabinet  meeting,  at  which  General  Grant  was  present, 
the  subject  of  the  state  of  the  country  and  the  prospect  of  a  speedy  peace 
was  discussed.  The  President  was  very  cheerful  and  hopeful,  and  spoke 
very  kindly  of  General  Lee  and  others  of  the  Confederacy  and  of  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  government  in  Virginia.  All  the  members  of  the  cabi- 
net,  except  Mr.   Seward,  are   waiting   upon   the   President. 

I  have  seen  Mr.  Seward,  but  he  and  Frederick  were  both  unconscious. 

At  about  1 :30  in  the  morning,  being  satisfied  that  Lincohi 
could  not  last  much  longer,  he  wrote  a  formal  notification  of  the 
death  of  the  President  to  Vice-President  Johnson,  upon  whom  the 
constitution  devolved  the  office  of  chief-magistrate.  Coming  into 
the  adjoining  room,  he  handed  the  paper  to  General  Vincent  with 
orders  to  make  a  fair  copy  of  it.*  Thereupon  Mrs.  Lincoln,  whose 
eyes  followed  Stanton's  every  move  as  the  master-spirit  of  that 
heart-breaking  night,  sprang  forward  with  a  hysterical  scream  :  "Is 
he  dead?  Oh,  is  he  dead?"  Stanton,  as  he  had  been  doing",  rea-s- 
sured  and  comforted  the  distracted  woman.f  but  with  indiflferent 
success,  as  the  steps  she  could  see  him  swiftly  taking  told  more 
plainly  than  words  that  the  worst  was  known  and  the  end  was  near. 

Thus  he  continued  throughout  the  night,  acting  as  president, 
secretary  of  war,  secretary  of  state,  commander-in-chief,  comforter, 

*The  closing  portion  of  the  notification  said:  "By  the  death  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  the  ofifice  of  president  has  devolved  under  the  constitution 
upon  you.  The  emergency  of  the  Government  demands  that  you  shall  im- 
mediately qualify  according  to  the  requirements  of  the  constitution,  and 
enter  upon  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  president  of  the  United  States." 
The  hour  of  death  was  filled  into  a  blank  left  for  that  purpose  as  soon  as 
Dr.  Barnes  announced  that  Lincoln  was  dead.  A  few  minutes  later,  at  the 
meeting  of  cabinet  ministers,  another  paper  (signed  by  Stanton,  McCul- 
loch,  Dennison,  Welles,  Speed,  and  Usher)  was  drafted  which  informed 
Vice-President  Johnson  that  "if  you  will  make  known  your  pleasure,  such 
arrangements  as  you  may  deem  proper  will  be  made." 


fSays  General  Vincent:  "I  cannot  recall  a  more  pitiful  picture  than 
that  of  poor  Mrs.  Lincoln,  almost  insane  with  sudden  agony,  moaning  and 
sobbing  out  that  terrible  night.  Mr.  Stanton  attempted  to  soothe  her,  but 
he  was  full  of  business,  and  knew,  moreover,  that  in  a  few  hours  at  most 
she  must  be  a  widow.  She  entered  the  room  where  her  husband  lay  mo- 
tionless but  once  before  the  surgeon  announced  that  death  was  fast  descend- 
ing, and  then  fainted  and  was  practically  helpless." 


STANTON  AS  ACTING-PRESIDENT  283 

and  dictator.  No  one  thought  of  questioning  his  authority  nor  hesi- 
tated to  carry  out  his  orders. 

"After  Lincoln's  death  the  Government  had  no  other  head  than 
Stanton,"  says  Henry  L.  Dawes. 

"I  was  profoundly  impressed  with  Secretary  Stanton's  bearing 
all  through  that  eventful  night,"  says  Colonel  A.  F.  Rockwell. 
"While  evidently  swayed  by  the  great  shock  which  held  us  all  under 
its  paralyzing  influence,  he  was  not  only  master  of  himself  but  un- 
mistakably the  dominating  power  over  all.  Indeed,  the  members 
of  the  cabinet,  much  as  children  might  to  their  father,  instinctively 
deferred  to  him  in  all  things." 

At  7  :22  in  the  morning  of  April  15,  1865,  Lincoln,  unconscious 
from  the  first,*  gently  ceased  to  breathe.  Stanton  touched  the  Rev- 
erend Mr.  Gurley  on  the  arm  and  said:  "Doctor,  please  lead  in 
prayer."  The  request  was  complied  with  amidst  sobs  and  tears — 
the  most  aflFecting  incident  in  the  first  supreme  tragedy  in  American 
history. 

The  army  and  judicial  officers,  surgeons  and  others  who  had 
been  requested  or  permitted  to  gather  during  the  night,  then  filed 
out  weeping.  Surgeon-General  Barnes  tenderly  drew  a  sheet  over 
the  face  of  the  martyr  and  Stanton,  as  he  darkened  the  windows, 
said  impressively:    "He  now  belongs  to  the  ages." 

All  the  members  save  Mr.  Seward  being  present,  he  imme- 
diately called  a  meeting  of  the  cabinet  in  a  room  adjoining  the  re- 
mains. They  consulted  standing.  Stanton  disclosed  the  notifica- 
tion to  Vice-President  Johnson  and  suggested  that,  as  Mr.  Lincoln's 
body  would  soon  be  removed  to  the  White  House,  the  first  meeting 
with  the  new  President,  which  should  be  held  as  soon  as  he  had 
been  sworn  in,  be  appointed  for  the  Treasury  Department.  That 
being  understood,  upon  Mr.  Stanton's  intimation,  all  agreed  to  offer 
to  resign  whenever  convenient  to  Mr.  Johnson,  or,  if  he  should  wish, 
to  remain  in  office.  Thereupon,  having  instructed  Colonel  L.  H. 
Pelouze  to  tell  Assistant-Secretary   Dana  to  order   the   arrest  of 


♦Says  Colonel  A.  F.  Rockwell,  who  was  present:  "During  twenty 
minutes  preceding  the  death  of  the  President,  Mr.  Stanton  stood  quite  mo- 
tionless, leaning  his  chin  upon  his  left  hand,  his  right  hand  holding  his  hat 
and  supporting  his  left  elbow,  the  tears  falling  continually.  There  was  one 
impressive  incident  which  involves  an  interesting  query:  When  the  death 
of  the  President  was  announced,  Mr.  Stanton  slowly  and  with  apparent 
deliberation  straightened  out  his  right  arm,  placed  his  hat  for  an  instant 
on  his  head  and  then  as  deliberately  returned  it  to  its  original  position." 


284  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Jacob  Thompson  (his  associate  in  Buchanan's  cabinet)  and  the 
police  and  military  authorities  to  take  the  utmost  precautions  for 
the  safety  of  General  Grant,  Stanton  committed  the  dead  to  the  espe- 
cial care  of  General  Vincent  and,  following  the  example  of  his  col- 
leagues, drove  to  his  residence  for  breakfast. 

"As  he  stood  at  the  door  ready  to  enter  his  carriage,"  says  Gen- 
eral Vincent,  "he  handed  me  his  military  cloak  saying:  'Take  this; 
you  will  need  it.    I  shall  ride  home  and  can  do  without  it.' 

"Turning  back  into  the  house  I  entered  the  room  where  Mr.  Lin- 
coln lay,  accompanied  by  Colonel  Rutherford,  who  remained  with 
me.  On  lifting  the  sheet,  I  saw  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  eyes  were  open 
— producing  a  sensation  that  will  be  vivid  in  my  mind  as  long  as 
I  live.  Colonel  Rutherford  produced  a  coin  and  I  did  the  same,  and, 
closing  the  eyes,  I  placed  the  coins  upon  them.  A  few  minutes  later 
a  conveyance  to  carry  the  remains  to  the  White  House  arrived  and 
niy  sad,  sad  duties  were  ended." 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

CONSPIRATORS  CAPTURED  AND  EXECUTED. 

Although  he  had  not  closed  his  eyes  during  the  night,  Stanton 
did  not  seek  rest  after  Lincoln  sank  to  sleep  on  the  morning  of  April 
15,  but  prepared  a  long  message  to  United  States  Minister  C.  F. 
Adams  at  London;  consulted  with  Vice-President  Johnson  at  the 
Kirkwood  House  during  the  forenoon  ;  attended  the  ceremony  of 
swearing  in  the  new  President ;  participated  in  a  cabinet  meeting, 
and  then  devoted  the  night  to  giving  directions  for  the  capture  of 
Booth.  Although  he  telegraphed  to  General  Dix  that  his  "Depart- 
ment had  information  that  the  President's  murder  was  organized  in 
Canada  and  approved  in  Richmond,"  he  evidently  was  not  as  certain 
as  President  Johnson  seemed  to  be,  that  Jefferson  Davis  was  person- 
ally involved  in  the  assassination,  for  the  name  of  the  insurgent 
"President"  was  not  included  in  his  proclamation  offering  rewards: 

War  Department  Washingrton.  April  20.  1865. 

mm  imm 

THE  MURDERER 

or  our  late  beloved  President,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

IS   STILL   AT   LARGE. 

$50,000  REWARD! 

WIU  to  fU  k,  ink  D«p*naim  far  kl>  u>prrl.«ail»i..  la  xKlllloa  u>  u,  olMr  r<»r4  ••rr*4 
k,  M«alcl|.al  tatk.Tlim  ai  atax  E>a<a>l.«.. 

$25,000  REV^ARD! 

trm    to    »ftM    for    Ito    •ppr«lMul»i»    of   JOHN    M.   SURRATT.    •■!•   •*   BMth*   MCoatpMcM. 

$25,000  REWARD! 


t^mi*  for  tk«  »f«r«he«»l««  arOANIELC  H  ARROLD.  Uoth«r  of  Bo«lli*«  MMBipM** 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON.  Ssetwiary  of  War. 


286  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

There  was  no  authority  of  law  for  the  foregoing,  but  his  re- 
wards were  assumed  and  paid  by  Congress ;  and  President  Johnson's 
subsequent  offer  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  capture  of 
Jefferson  Davis  as  the  alleged  chief  procurer  of  the  murder  of  Lin- 
coln was  also  paid,  although  the  prisoner  was  never  tried  on  that  or 
any  other  charge. 

On  April  26,  Booth  was  shot  by  Boston  Corbett  while  resisting 
arrest,  and,  at  about  the  same  time,  Lewis  Payne,  Dr.  Samuel  T. 
Mudd,  Edward  Spangler,  Michael  O'Laughlin,  D.  C.  Harrold, 
George  E.  Atzerot,  and  Samuel  Arnold,  accomplices,  together  with 
Mrs.  Mary  E.  Surratt,  whose  house  in  Washington  had  been  a  long- 
time rendezvous  of  the  conspirators,  were  apprehended.* 

Booth's  diary  and  personal  effects  (among  them  the  Confeder- 
ate cipher  code)  were  turned  over  to  Stanton  at  his  residence  and 
the  prisoners  closely  confined  on  gunboats  in  the  middle  of  the  Po- 
tomac River,t  especial  watch  being  kept  over  Payne,  who  confessed 
to  General  Eckert  that  just  half  of  the  conspirators  had  been  cap- 
tured.   Those  who  were  undiscovered  then  still  remain  unknown. 

On  May  1,  Attorney-General  Speed  having  decided  that  the 
assassins  were  triable  by  a  military  commission.  President  Johnson 
ordered  a  detail  of  "nine  competent  military  officers,"  with  Joseph 
Holt  for  advocate-general;  John  A.  Bingham,  special  advocate-gen- 
eral; Henry  L.  Burnett,  special  assistant;  and  General  John  F. 
Hartranft,  provost  marshal,  to  act  as  such  commission. 

The  trial  began  in  the  old  arsenal  in  Washington  on  May  10 
(the  day  on  which  Jefferson  Davis  was  captured)  and  was  con- 
cluded on  June  30,  with  a  verdict  of  guilty — Mary  E.  Surratt,  Lewis 
Payne,  D.  C.  Harrold,  and  George  B.  Atzerot  to  be  hanged  and  the 


*Dr.  Robert  I.  Porter  of  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  says:  "The  body  of 
Booth  was  taken  in  a  row  boat  to  the  arsenal  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
and  in  the  dead  of  night,  in  the  presence  of  the  store-keeper,  four  soldiers, 
and  myself,  was  so  secretly  hidden  that  the  place  never  has  been  cor- 
rectly described.  We  were  ordered  by  Secretary  Stanton  to  maintain 
silence  and  we  have  obeyed  the  order  strictly  to  this  day.  The  body  was 
finally  given  to  the  Booth  family  under  agreement  that  its  resting  place 
should  never  be  marked." 


f'The  Secretary  of  War  requests  that  the  prisoners  on  board  the  iron- 
clads, for  better  security  against  conversation,  shall  have  canvas  bags  placed 
over  their  heads,  tied  about  the  neck,  with  holes  for  proper  breathing  and 
eating,  but  not  seeing,  and  that  Payne  be  secured  to  prevent  self-destruc- 
tion." 


2  < 


CONSPIRATORS  CAPTURED  AND  EXECUTED  287 

others  imprisoned.  President  Johnson  on  July  4  fixed  the  execution 
for  Friday,  July  7,  but  the  warrants  were  not  issued  or  known  until 
the  following  morning,  so  that  the  culprits  had  only  forty  hours  in 
which  to  prepare  for  death. 

The  friends  of  Mrs.  Surratt  made  a  strenuous  effort  for  at  least 
a  reprieve,  but  Johnson  refused  to  see  any  one  in  her  behalf,  direct- 
ing General  R.  D.  Mussey,  his  private  secretary,  to  say  to  all  callers 
that  if  they  possessed  additional  evidence  to  present  it  to  Judge 
Holt.  Mrs.  Stephen  A.  Douglas  alone  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
President,  but  her  appeal  was  futile.* 

Father  Walter  of  Washington,  believing  Mrs.  Surratt,  who  was 
a  member  of  his  church,  had  been  too  severely  condemned,  was 
particularly  active  in  her  interest.  Knowing  his  sincerity,  Stanton 
sent  General  James  A.  Hardie  (also  a  Catholic)  to  suggest  to  him 
the  inadvisability  of  continuing  efforts  in  her  behalf  in  the  absence 
of  fresh  and  exculpating  evidence.  Father  Walter  refused  to  desist, 
whereupon  Stanton  sent  General  W.  S.  Hancock,  in  command  of 
the  post  where  Mrs.  Surratt  was  confined,  to  consult  with  Bishop 
Spalding  in  Baltimore,  who,  seeing  the  ineptitude  of  an  attempt  to 
personally  interfere  with  the  processes  of  a  duly  constituted  court, 
forwarded  a  telegram  to  Father  Walter  which  had  the  desired 
effect.  Thereupon  Mrs.  Surratt's  attorneys  presented  to  Judge  An- 
drew Wylie,  of  the  court  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  at  2  o'clock 
in  the  morning  of  the  day  fixed  for  the  execution,  a  petition  for  a 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  which  was  granted,  commanding  General 
Hancock,  who  had  charge  of  the  several  prisoners,  to  produce  her 
body  in  court.  Hancock  repaired  with  the  writ  to  Stanton,  who 
directed  him  to  Attorney-General  Speed.  Without  hesitation  that 
officer  drafted  a  proclamation,  which  the  President  signed  at  10  A. 
M.,  suspending  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia.   At  12  o'clock  the  execution  took  place. 


*Later,  President  Johnson  changed  completely.  On  February  8,  1868, 
as  if  to  give  his  official  approval  to  the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  he  par- 
doned Dr.  Mudd  and  on  March  1,  1869,  just  as  he  was  retiring  to  private 
life,  pardoned  Arnold  and  Spangler.  O'Laughlin  died  in  the  military  prison 
on  the  Dry  Tortugas,  an  island  oflf  the  coast  of  Florida. 


CHAPTER  L. 

GRAND      REVIEW— SHERMAN'S      AFFRONT— DISBAND- 

MENT. 

The  magnificent  though  partial  exhibition  of  national  strength 
known  as  the  Grand  Review,  was  projected  by  Stanton.  It  was  his 
original  design  to  have  all  the  armies,  one  million  in  number,  in 
review  under  arms  and  mustered  out  at  the  capital,  making  a  dem- 
onstration vast  beyond  conception ;  but  the  cost  of  transportation 
and  subsistence  rendered  that  plan,  he  thought  later,  inadvisable. 

As  the  different  corps,  divisions,  and  regiments  passed  before 
him,  he  recited  to  the  distinguished  reviewers  near  him  their  bat- 
tles, losses,  valor,  and  victories.  "You  see  in  these  armies,"  he 
exclaimed,  "the  foundation  of  the  Republic — our  future  railway 
managers,  congressmen,  bank  presidents,  senators,  manufacturers, 
judges,  governors,  and  diplomats;  yes,  and  not  less  than  half  a 
dozen  presidents" — which  prophecy  has  been  fulfilled  practically, 
Grant,  Hayes,  Garfield,  Harrison,  and  McKinley  having  been  elected 
to  the  presidency  from  the  Union  armies. 

Detailed  reports  of  the  review  and  of  the  splendid  equipment 
of  the  Federal  troops  were  made  by  the  foreign  representatives  to 
their  respective  governments,  establishing  in  Europe  the  first  ade- 
quate conception  of  the  enormous  fighting  strength  of  a  free  and 
spirited  nation ;  and  that  was  precisely  Stanton's  purpose. 

The  Grand  Review  developed  many  interesting  incidents,  but 
only  one  that  fixed  for  itself  a  place  in  history — Sherman's  affront 
to  Stanton  for  reversing  the  Sherman-Johnston  "agreement."  The 
story  is  told  by  the  Reverend  Justin  D.  Fulton  of  Brooklyn,  as 
follows : 

Through  Jay  Cooke  T  had  seats  at  the  left  of  the  grand  stand.  The 
first  day  of  the  review  was  given  up  to  Grant's  army.  The  second  was 
given  to  Sherman,  who  rode  his  celebrated  war-horse  and  looked  every  inch 
a  soldier.  Beside  him  rode  the  one-armed  Major-General  Howard.  The 
first  corps  had  passed.     General  Sherman  gave  his  horse  to  his  aide  and 


SHERMAN'S  AFFRONT— DISBANDMENT  289 

walked  up  to  the  stand.  All  rose  to  greet  him.  He  shook  hands  with  all 
until  he  came  to  Stanton,  when  he  turned  away.  Quick  as  lightning-leap  I 
rose  within  twenty  feet  of  General  Sherman  and  all,  and  shouted: 

"Edwin  M.  Stanton,  savior  of  our  country  under  God,  rise  and  receive 
the  greetings  of  your  friends!" 

Sherman's  face  was  black.  President  Johnson  motioned  Stanton  to 
rise.  He  did  not  come  until  the  words  were  repeated:  "Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
savior  of  our  country  under  God,  rise  and  receive  the  greetings  of  your 
friends."  He  then  came  forth  into  the  presence  of  at  least  100,000  people, 
when  I  cried  out  aloud  once  more: 

"Nine  cheers  for  the  savior  of  his  country  under  God!" 

The  multitude  joined  in  the  acclaim  and  the  great  War  Secretary  re- 
ceived a  recognition  which  would  not  have  come  to  him  had  Sherman  acted 
the  gentleman. 

For  days  the  press  teemed  with  accounts  of  the  affront,  some 
thinking  General  Sherman  should  resign  and  others  that  he  should 
receive  military  punishment ;  but  Stanton  did  not  even  refer  to  the 
incident.  He  regarded  it  as  merely  the  involuntary  ebullition  of  an 
infirm  temper  in  a  soldier  who  had  struck  telling  blows  for  his 
country. 

While  this  hostile  clamor  was  at  its  height,  Mrs.  Sherman  sent 
to  Stanton,  with  her  autograph  card  in  the  midst  of  it,  a  bouquet  of 
beautiful  flowers* — a  rare  offering  of  peace,  a  delicate  plea  for  con- 
sideration. She  did  not  justify  her  husband's  discourtesy  and 
wanted  Stanton  to  know  it.  Afterward,  when  a  military  commis- 
sion of  which  Sherman  was  a  member  was  sitting  in  the  War  De- 
partment, Stanton,  who  harbored  no  personal  animosity,  invited  the 
General  into  his  private  room,  where  the  two  sat  for  some  time  in 
friendly  chat. 

On  April  13,  previous  to  ordering  the  Grand  Review  and  less 
than  four  days  after  Lee's  surrender,  Stanton  gave  public  notice 
that  he  would  shortly  issue  orders:  "(1)  To  stop  all  drafting  and 
recruiting  in  loyal  States ;  (2)  To  curtail  the  purchase  of  arms, 
munitions,  etc. ;  (3)  To  reduce  the  number  of  generals  and  staff 
officers  to  the  actual  necessities  of  the  service ;  (4)  To  remove  all 
military  restrictions  upon  trade  and  commerce  so  far  as  consistent 
with  public  safety." 

The  assassination  of  Lincoln  on  the  following  day  and  the  pur- 
suit of  the  conspirators  prevented  issuing  the  promised  orders  until 


*"I  put  Mrs.  Sherman's  gracious  offering  in  water,"  says  Major  A.  E. 
H.  Johnson,  "intending  to  send  it  to  Mr.  Stanton's  house;  but  when  the 
Secretary  went,  the  flowers  went,  too." 


290  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

the  28th,  when  he  promulgated  General  Orders  72,  consisting  of  ten 
sections,  reducing  the  entire  military  establishment  to  a  peace  basis. 

"That,"  says  General  Thomas  M.  Vincent,  who  prepared  the 
details  for  and  had  immediate  charge  of  disbandment,  "is  one  of 
the  Secretary's  remarkable  feats.  As  he  stood  at  his  high  desk 
consulting  and  conversing  with  several  important  officers  upon 
various  other  topics,  he  composed  and  wrote  the  paper — on  which 
we  all  acted — to  disperse  our  great  armies  and  close  up  the  enor- 
mous business  of  the  military  establishment.  Copies  of  the  paper 
were  taken  by  photography  for  preservation  and  as  an  illustration 
of  Mr.  Stanton's  wonderful  range  and  accuracy  of  knowledge  of 
military  affairs." 

Extra  and  expert  clerks  were  sent  wherever  necessary,  and  if 
available  buildings  for  offices  were  insufficient,  wall-tents  were 
provided.  In  the  meantime,  paymasters  and  quartermasters  were 
despatched  to  the  various  State  rendezvous,  where  salaries  were 
paid  and  equipage  received.  Transportation  for  any  emergency  had 
been  provided. 

During  June  and  July  and  five  days  in  August,  650,000  soldiers 
were  mustered,  paid,  and  transferred  bodily  to  their  homes — 
10,000  a  day,  1,000  an  hour,  Sundays  included!  "Had  it  been 
possible  to  spare  all  the  volunteers,  the  entire  number,  1,034,064, 
could  easily  have  been  disbanded  and  returned  to  their  homes 
within  three  months,"  says  General  Vincent.  This  would  have 
been  1,150  per  hour  for  the  entire  period. 

Disbandment  did  not  mean  simply  dispersing  1,000,000  armed 
men  and  250,000  salaried  employes,  but  also  reversing  the  entire 
momentum  of  the  war,  and  turning  into  channels  of  private  activity 
1,288  ships  and  transports — 700  of  them  ocean-going;  15,389  miles 
of  telegraph  lines;  2,630  miles  of  railway  and  its  equipment;  204 
general  hospitals ;  32  military  prisons ;  4,000  barracks  and  war  struc- 
tures ;  237,000  hospital  beds ;  600,000  horses  and  mules ;  enormous 
streams  of  supplies ;  and  the  products  of  hundreds  of  factories  run- 
ning night  and  day  on  military  contracts. 

During  the  war  2,865,028  Union  men  were  called  into  the  ser- 
vice. Nearly  three-quarters  of  a  million  fugitive  blacks  were  wholly 
subsisted  and  about  2,000,000  other  blacks  aided,  while  wide  sec- 
tions of  rebellious  territory  were  successfully  cultivated,  protected, 
and  governed. 


SHERMAN'S  AFFRONT— DISBANDMENT  291 

In  these  transactions  the  quartermaster-general  issued  23,000,- 
000  bushels  of  corn,  78,000,000  bushels  of  oats,  93,000  bushels  of 
barley,  1,520,000  tons  of  hay,  and  1,600,000  tons  of  straw,  and  other 
articles  in  proportion.  The  salaried  employes  in  his  Department 
numbered  110,000,  of  whom  83,837 — a  large  army — were  discharged 
under  Stanton's  reduction  order  of  April  28. 

The  operations  of  the  other  Departments  were  on  the  same 
grand  scale.  Indeed,  the  preparations  of  the  winter  of  1864-5  to 
crush  the  insurrection  at  one  irresistible  sweep — to  wipe  out  the 
Confederacy — were  stupendous.  In  his  review  of  them  Stanton  re- 
ported to  Congress  that  he  had  on  hand  material  and  munitions 
sufficient  to  last  three  years ;  wagons  and  machinery  enough  for  the 
use  of  two  millions  of  soldiers  ;  a  food  supply  that  would  last  two 
months ;  and  horses  and  other  animals  coming  in  at  the  rate  of 
hve  hundred  per  day! 

Thus  the  wonderful  story  of  the  war  is  not  of  its  sieges  and 
marches,  its  battle  above  the  clouds,  its  fight  from  the  tree  tops  of 
Port  Hudson,  the  wild  charge  at  Petersburg,  or  the  frightful  slaugh- 
ter at  Gettysburg,  but  the  immeasurable  executive  and  administra- 
tive capacity  which  furnished,  equipped,  fed,  transported,  and  paid 
the  armies — which  knew  and  developed  the  resources  of  the  nation 
according  to  the  necessities  of  the  hour! 

The  heart  and  soul  of  it  all  was  Stanton,  and  his  second  report 
of  1865  is  the  most  eloquent  history  of  the  Rebellion  ever  printed. 
It  shows  the  transactions  of  his  Department  to  have  been  prodig- 
ious ;  and  in  concluding  he  made  this  discriminating  prophecy,  which 
was  fulfilled  to  the  last  measure  by  the  Spanish  war : 

Henceforth  there  is  no  room  to  doubt  the  stability  of  the  Union.  No 
new  rebellion  can  ever  spring  up  that  will  not  encounter  a  greater  force 
for  its  reduction,  and  a  foreign  war  would  intensify  the  national  feeling  and 
thousands,  once  misled,  would  rejoice  to  atone  for  their  error  by  rallying 
to  the  national  flag.  The  majesty  of  the  national  power  has  been  exhibited; 
and  the  foundations  of  the  Federal  Union  have  been  made  eternal. 

He  mentions  with  pride  the  success  of  his  efforts  to  return  the 
country  almost  in  a  day  to  a  peace  basis,  a  feat  that  astonished  the 
world.  European  critics  did  not  believe  it  could  be  done  without 
rioting,  bloodshed,  and  industrial  revolution,  and,  at  home,  gover- 
nors of  States  and  many  distinguished  men  requested  him  to  pro- 
vide troops  to  maintain  order. 


292  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

"He  did  not  view  these  fears  as  well-founded,  and  made  reply, 
in  substance,  that  if  the  soldiers  who  subdued  the  Rebellion  could 
not  be  trusted,  the  life  of  the  Republic  might  as  well  be  yielded," 
says  General  Vincent,  and  he  sent  ten  thousand  a  day  back  to  their 
respective  communities  without  any  effort  to  watch  or  restrain 
them,  and  there  was  no  disorder,  social  or  industrial. 


CHAPTER   LI. 
FAITHFUL  LIEUTENANTS. 

The  uniformly  high  grade  of  Stanton's  personal  appointments 
is  as  noteworthy  as  any  feature  of  his  administration.  During  the 
war  the  members  of  his  staff  never  failed  in  probity  or  capacity,  and, 
without  exception,  those  who  survived  the  contest  became  promi- 
nent and  distinguished  leaders  in  their  chosen  callings.  Could  there 
be  a  surer  test  of  Stanton's  foresight  and  ability? 

While  there  is  no  known  match  for  his  physical  and  mental 
endurance  and  the  unflagging  force  of  his  will,  his  lieutenants,  con- 
stituting as  effective  and  harmonious  a  staff  as  ever  served  a  war 
minister,  kept  wonderfully  well  up  to  his  pace  and  contributed  ma- 
terially to  his  success.* 

Peter  Hill  Watson,  assistant  secretary,  a  native  of  Scotland 
who  was  banished  from  British  soil  for  participating  in  the  Cana- 
dian Rebellion  of  1837 — an  abolitionist  and  an  intense  patriot — was 
second  only  to  his  chief  in  energy,  capacity,  and  the  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice. 

Charles  A.  Dana,  at  first  confidential  agent  at  the  front  and 
then  assistant  secretary,  was  confessedly  the  most  brainy,  far-see- 
ing, and  profound  investigator  and  spy  of  the  generation. 

Edward  D.  Townsend,  acting  adjutant-general, f  faithful  and 
true  to  the  last  and  a  model  Christian,  possessed  unlimited  capacity 
for  discharging  routine   duties  with   unerring  hand   and   unruffled 


♦During  the  opening  weeks  of  his  administration  he  held  daily  meet- 
ings with  his  bureau  chiefs,  thus  learning  the  actual  conditions  of  the  sev- 
eral divisions  and  getting  up  high  pressure  and  synchronous  action  through- 
out the  Department;  but  afterward,  when  he  had  measured  their  individual 
capacities,  he  advised  with  them  separately,  according  to  the  matter  in  hand 
and  trusted  them  implicity  to  carry  out  details. 

fGeneral  Lorenzo  Thomas  was  technically  adjutant-general,  but  in 
order  to  have  available  the  remarkable  qualities  of  General  Townsend, 
Stanton  always  kept  Thomas,  whose  condition  was  feeble,  away  from  Wash- 
ington on  detached  duties. 


294  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

front.  Everything  military  was  at  his  tongue's  end ;  he  could  almost 
rest  and  sleep  while  grinding  at  his  tasks ;  he  made  no  mistakes ; 
he  ran  against  no  sharp  corners. 

Next  to  him — perhaps  more  learned  in  military  laws  and  codes 
— and  equally  faithful,  self-sacrificing,  and  reliable,  of  large  con- 
structive ability  and  unmixed  devotion  to  duty  and  to  Stanton,  stood 
Thomas  M.  Vincent,  assistant  adjutant-general. 

Not  less  true  and  efficient  was  Thomas  T.  Eckert  (for  years 
afterward  president  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company) 
and  Anson  Stager,  in  charge  of  the  Military  Telegraph,  the  former 
especially  being  a  model  of  those  who  question  nothing,  disclose 
nothing,  discuss  nothing,  and  perform  everything. 

William  Whiting  of  Boston,  solicitor*  of  the  War  Department, 
successfully  stemmed  that  obstructive  tide  of  trouble-makers,  so 
much  detested  by  Stanton,  who  rushed  out  with  the  mocking  cry 
that  the  constitution  was  being  violated  every  time  the  Government 
undertook  a  new  step  to  save  itself. 

In  certain  respects  General  Montgomery  C.  Meigs,  quarter- 
master-general, was  Stanton's  main  support.  His  military  learning 
was  immense,  his  judgment  rugged  and  sound,  his  energy  never 
ending,  and  his  methods  practical. 

General  James  A.  Hardie,  assistant  adjutant-general,  occupied 
a  delicate  and  important  post.  For  some  time,  being  a  master  of 
personal  diplomacy  and  of  many  languages,  he  met  and  disposed 
of  the  great  throngs  who  constantly  beseiged  the  W^ar  Office,  decid- 
ing who  might  or  ought  to  see  Stanton,  and  where  those  were  to  go 
whose  cases  could  be  attended  to  by  the  heads  of  Departments.  As 
everybody  wanted  to  "see  the  Secretary,"  there  was  much  clamor 
against  his  decisions,  but  they  were  never  reversed  by  Stanton, 
from  whose  shoulders  this  shrewd,  discreet,  and  tireless  officer  of 
wide  education  and  polished  manners  lifted  a  destructive  burden. 

Others,  like  Surgeon-General  J.  K.  Barnes,  Colonel  William  P. 
Wood  (superintendent  of  the  Old  Capitol  and  Carroll  Prisons), 
General  L.  C.  Baker  (of  the  Secret  Service),  Colonel  L.  H.  Pelouze 


*In  February,  1863,  when  Congress  formally  provided  for  a  solicitor, 
Stanton  proceeded  to  Steubenville,  Ohio,  and  offered  the  position  to  Rod- 
erick S.  Moodey,  a  lawyer  of  great  attainments,  saying:  "I  have  no  faith 
in  those  Washington  attorneys."  Moodey  was  unable  to  accept  and  Whit- 
ing was  selected  and,  although  in  such  poor  health  that  he  resigned  just 
previous  to  the  close  of  the  war,  he  made  a  world-wide  reputation,  of  which 
his  "War  Powers  Under  the  Constitution"  is  an  evidence. 


Peter  II.  Watson. 
Stanton's  life-long  friend. 


Erastl's  Cormni;, 
President  N.  Y.  Central  R.  R. 


FAITHFUL  LIEUTENANTS  295 

(assistant  adjutant-general,  a  discreet,  non-talking  West  Pointer 
of  inexhaustible  patience  and  tact).  General  Herman  Haupt  and 
Colonel  D.  C.  McCallum  (of  the  Military  Railways),  Major  A.  E.  H. 
Johnson  (in  charge  of  telegrams,  who  never  opened  his  mouth  or 
permitted  a  document  to  leave  his  hands),  as  well  as  several  others 
whose  doings  are  mentioned  elsewhere  in  these  pages,  gave  constant 
strength  to  the  heart  and  security  to  the  soul  of  Stanton,  and  to  the 
Government  a  service  of  far  greater  value  than  history  has  ever 
recognized. 

"It  gives  me  pleasure  to  bear  witness  to  the  general  diligence, 
ability,  and  fidelity  manifested  by  the  chiefs  of  the  several  bureaus 
of  this  Department.  Whatever  success  may  have  attended  its  ad- 
ministration is,  in  a  great  measure,  due  to  them  and  their  subordi- 
nates," said  Stanton  in  one  of  his  reports  to  Congress ;  and  in  his  re- 
view of  the  great  conflict,  after  its  close,  he  paid  this  tribute  to  his 
faithful  lieutenants :  "To  the  chiefs  of  bureaus  and  subdivisions 
the  thanks  of  this  Department  are  due  for  their  unwearied  industry, 
vigilance,  and  fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties." 

From  one  whose  patriotism  was  a  mania  and  whose  devotion  to 
duty  was  desperate  and  ceaseless,  words  like  the  above  are  signifi- 
cant. Those  in  whom  he  placed  discretionary  duties  toiled  like 
galley  slaves,  and  some  of  them,  like  C.  P.  Wolcott  (his  brother-in- 
law)  and  Peter  H.  Watson,  were  literally  crushed  by  the  weight  of 
their  burdens. 

"When  Secretary  Stanton  gave  orders  to  his  trusted  men  to 
perform  a  given  service,  he  expected  them  to  succeed  or  die  in  the 
attempt,*  and  they  acted  accordingly,"  says  Colonel  William  P. 
Wood — which  tells  the  whole  story. 


*On  October  31,  1862,  Wood,  supposing  he  was  acting  under  indepen- 
dent instructions  from  Stanton,  refused  to  obey  orders  from  General  Dix 
in  relation  to  exchanges.  Dix  telegraphed  to  Stanton,  who  replied:  "Wood 
should  have  been  put  in  the  guard-house.  When  you  think  a  man  deserves 
it,  'shoot  him  on  the  spot.'  " 


CHAPTER  LIL 

INAUGURATES     RECONSTRUCTION— MILITARY      GOV- 
ERNORS. 

Upon  every  conqueror  devolves  the  duty  of  providing  for  the 
territory  acquired  by  his  arms  a  form  of  government  to  succeed  that 
which  he  has  destroyed.  In  other  words,  he  must  reconstruct — a 
strange  task  at  Stanton's  time  in  the  American  Republic — yet  he 
was  fully  equal  to  it.  He  closely  followed  his  advancing  armies  with 
a  military  form  of  civil  government  in  order  to  save  the  inhabitants 
from  anarchy  and  prepare  the  rebellious  States,  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  he  hoped,  to  drop  back  into  their  former  places  in  the  Union 
without  friction  by  a  simple  form  of  congressional  enactment. 

On  March  3,  1862  (forty-five  days  after  assuming  the  war 
portfolio),  he  appointed  United  States  Senator  Andrew  Johnson 
military  governor  of  Tennessee,  having  first  attached  him  to  the 
army  as  brigadier-general,  so  that  the  entire  process  should  be 
strictly  military,  using  the  following  words: 

Sir: 

You  are  hereby  appointed  to  be  military  governor  of  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee, with  authorit}'  to  exercise  and  perform  within  the  limits  of  that 
State,  all  and  singular,  the  powers,  duties,  and  functions  pertaining  to  the 
office  of  military  governor  (including  the  power  to  establish  all  necessary 
offices  and  tribunals  and  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus)  during  the 
pleasure  of  the  President  or  until  the  loyal  inhabitants  of  that  State  shall 
have  organized  a  civil  government  in  conformity  with  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States. 

Similar  appointments  followed  shortly  in  North  Carolina,  Lou- 
isiana, and  other  States  where  the  Federal  troops  were  in  more  or 
less  control,  supplemented  in  some  instances  by  sequestration  com- 
missions to  insure  ownership  to  loyal,  and  formally  confiscate  the 
holdings  of  disloyal,  persons. 

Deriving  their  authority  from  the  direct  orders  of  Stanton,  the 
military  governors  exercised  extraordinary  powers.  They  per- 
formed not  only  gubernatorial  functions,  but  levied  and  collected 


INAUGURATES  RECONSTRUCTION  297 

special  taxes ;  put  upon  those  who  had  engaged  in  rebelHon  against 
the  United  States  distinct  burdens  for  the  support  of  the  children 
and  families  of  those  who  had  enlisted  in  the  Union  armies ;  seized 
and  devoted  to  the  common  defense  the  property  of  insurgents,  in- 
cluding slaves;  enrolled  slaves  of  insurgent  masters  and  set  them 
to  work  upon  fortifications  or  otherwise  ;  furnished  employment  and 
compensation  to  loyal  whites  and  abandoned  blacks ;  subdivided  and 
leased  out  the  country  formerly  occupied  by  insurgents ;  erected 
houses  and  barns ;  constructed  docks  and  railways ;  and  generally 
materialized  the  most  extreme  form  of  benevolent  despotism. 

The  operations  of  General  B.  F.  Butler  in  New  Orleans,  under 
Governor  Shepley,  stand  unique  in  character,  magnitude,  and  suc- 
cess, while  those  of  General  Rufus  Saxton  as  military  governor  on 
the  Atlantic  coast,  are  equally  characteristic. 

General  Saxton  describes  his  interesting  experience  under  Stan- 
ton's instructions  of  June  16,  1862,  and  brings  out  some  new  and 
valuable  facts : 

On  the  islands  stretching  along  the  coast  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
and  eastern  Florida  were  a  very  large  number  of  negroes — slaves  aban- 
doned by  their  owners.  The  plantations  were  there  and  the  labor  was 
there,  but  the  labor  must  be  directed  and  controlled  to  be  effective.  Many 
even  in  the  North  believed  that  the  negro  would  not  work  unless  driven. 
To  demonstrate  the  fact  that  industry  and  order  could  be  made  possible 
among  lately  freed  slaves,  was  the  task  set  for  me  by  Mr.  Stanton. 

Truth  demands  that  I  say  that  I  received  very  little  collateral  aid. 
Among  military  officers  in  command  there  was  found  scarcely  any  sympa- 
thy with  a  scheme  having  for  its  object  a  proof  that  slavery  might  be  safely 
abolished.  That  it  would  lead  eventually  to  the  employment  of  negroes  as 
soldiers,  was  exceedingly  distasteful.  Where  there  was  no  active  hostility 
among  army  authorities  there  was  an  almost  entire  apathy.  However,  I 
was  fully  sustained  by  Mr.  Stanton. 

Under  my  direction  came  many  thousands  of  freedmen.  I  caused  cot- 
ton to  be  cultivated  on  all  abandoned  lands,  producing  a  fund  of  more  than 
a  million  dollars  out  of  which  all  the  expenses  of  the  Department  were  paid; 
food  crops  were  raised  on  thousands  of  acres;  a  surplus  of  fruit  and  vege- 
tables was  sold  by  the  freedmen  to  the  army,  with  markedly  beneficial  re- 
sults to  the  troops;  able-bodied  colored  men  were  employed  as  teamsters, 
wood-cutters,  and  laborers  at  low  wages,  thus  relieving  the  troops  in  a  hot 
climate,  and  two  full  regiments  of  colored  soldiers,  with  white  officers,  were 
put  in  the  field. 

At  the  close  of  my  administration  in  1865  I  turned  over  to  the  Freed- 
men's  Bank  over  $200,000,  the  savings  of  men  who,  in  the  winter  of  1861-2, 
were  simply  abandoned  or  fugitive  slaves. 

The  success  of  the  experiment  was  highly  gratifying  to  Mr.  Stanton, 
its  author,  who  visited  me  during  the  winter  of  1865  to  observe  for  himself 


298  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

the  condition  of  the  freedmen  of  the  sea  islands  and  the  colored  soldiers 
he  had  been  the  chief  instrument  of  calling  into  service.  He  was  also 
deeply  interested  in  the  free  labor  question,  believing  that  the  fair  fields  of 
the  South  could  be  more  advantageously  cultivated  by  the  free  than  by  slave 
labor;  and  the  fact  that  I  had  completely  demonstrated  this  at  Port  Royal 
was  as  gratifying  to  him  as  had  been  his  successful  experiment  of  arming 
the  blacks. 

He  was  enthusiastic  upon  the  subject,  and  when  I  asked  him  to  allow 
me  to  accept  the  command  of  a  division  which  General  F.  P.  Blair  had 
oflfered  me  in  his  army  corps,  he  refused  in  a  very  positive  manner,  saying: 
"I  have  no  man  to  put  in  your  place.  I  would  like  to  exchange  places  with 
you;  I  would  rather  have  your  work  than  my  own." 

I  accompanied  Mr.  Stanton  to  Savannah,  where  he  met  General  Sher- 
man in  his  victorious  march  to  the  sea.  There  he  approved  the  famous 
Special  Field  Order  No.  15,  dated  at  Savannah,  January  16,  1865,  which  gave 
up  all  the  lands  on  the  sea  islands,  800,000  acres  in  extent,  to  preemptions 
for  homesteads  solely  for  the  negroes.  No  white  man  was  allowed  the  priv- 
ilege of  this  order,  which  became  known  as  the  "Forty-acre-and-a-Mule 
Proclamation." 

From  my  conversation  with  him,  however,  I  am  confident  that  he  had 
an  entirely  different  program  for  the  management  of  the  freedmen.  I  heard 
the  General  say  to  the  Secretary:  "Mr.  Stanton,  leave  the  question  of  the 
freedmen  in  the  territory  conquered  by  my  army  to  me.  I  have  it  all  fixed 
up."  Mr.  Stanton  turned  to  me  saying:  "General  Sherman  wants  to  havfc 
charge  of  the  freedmen's  interests.     We  must  leave  it  to  him."* 

As  I  was  named  in  the  order  as  superintendent,  I  protested  to  General 
Sherman  that  I  had  not  sufficient  power  to  carry  out  his  orders;  was  ham- 
pered by  superiors  in  command  and  powerless  to  do  anything  that  might 
interfere  with  their  authority.  My  protests  were  not  heeded  and  I  was  di- 
rected to  carry  out  the  order,  which  I  at  once  proceeded  to  do  to  the  best 
of  my  ability,  encountering  all  the  obstacles  anticipated.  After  issuing  his 
order  General  Sherman  did  not  concern  himself  about  its  execution,  and 
afterwards  did  not  manifest  the  slightest  interest  in  its  fate.  However, 
Mr.  Stanton's  powerful  support  greatly  lessened  the  difficulties  of  the  situa- 
tion, and  40,000  freedmen  were  colonized  on  forty-acre  tracts. 

When  President  Johnson  came  into  power,  Mr.  Stanton  was  unable  to 
go  further,  and  the  new  administration  proceeded  to  undo  all  that  had  been 
accomplished.  I  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  and  the  lands  were  re- 
stored to  their  former  owners. 


*Order  No.  15  was  approved  orally  not  formally  by  Stanton — that  is, 
was  not  countermanded  or  forbidden  by  him.  Stanton,  on  reading  it,  said 
to  Sherman:  "It  seems  to  me.  General,  that  this  is  contrary  to  law."  Sher- 
man's response  was:  "There  is  no  law  here  except  mine,  Mr.  Secretary." 
Stanton  smiled  and  the  order  was  issued  a  day  or  two  after  he  left  for  the 
North.  General  Saxton  says  Stanton  was  opposed  to  the  order,  but  ac- 
quiesced in  its  promulgation  in  deference  to  the  positive  wishes  of  General 
Sherman. 


INAUGURATES  RECONSTRUCTION  299 

Naturally  the  opening  operations  of  these  military  governors 
were  largely  physical — clothing,  feeding,  and  sheltering  the  people 
and  tilling  the  soil  of  the  conquered  sections — saving  life  and  land. 
Then  followed  efforts  toward  political  organization — local  self-gov- 
ernment. Louisiana  being  first  prepared,  apparently,  to  reerect 
loyal  State  machinery,  Stanton,  on  August  24,  1863,  issued  instruc- 
tions to  Governor  G.  F.  Shepley  to  make  a  registry  of  loyal  voters 
and  such  others  as  would  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  for  the  purpose 
of  electing  delegates  to  a  convention  to  adopt  a  constitution  and 
form  "a  government  loyal  to  the  United  States  and  in  conformity 
with  the  Federal  constitution." 

Before  the  war  closed  Tennessee  had  constitutionally  abolished 
slavery  and  established  complete  local  self-government,  with  courts, 
congressmen,  and  United  States  senators  duly  elected — an  extra- 
ordinary administrative  feat,  due  almost  entirely  to  Stanton's  wis- 
dom and  Andrew  Johnson's  resolution — and  active  operations  in 
that  direction  were  in  progress  in  other  States. 

Thus,  Stanton's  military  governors  saved  bloodshed,  rescued 
plantations  and  mills,  shortened  the  war,  held  disloyalty  in  check, 
insured  safety  to  the  persons  and  property  of  those  who  adhered  to 
the  Union,  and  trained,  encouraged,  and  protected  the  blacks  who, 
by  the  hundreds  and  thousands,  were  suddenly  left  without  master, 
shelter,  employment,  or  subsistence. 

If  Lincoln  had  lived,  unquestionably  these  governors  would 
have  been  continued  (instead  of  the  illegal  "provisional  governors" 
appointed  by  President  Johnson  and  Secretary  Seward)  until  Con- 
gress had  provided  for  lawfully  rehabilitating  the  rebellious  States, 
thus  avoiding  the  hideous  crimes  of  1866,  1867,  and  1868. 


CHAPTER  LIII. 

PARTING  OF  THE  WAYS. 

When  Andrew  Johnson  resigned  as  military  governor  of  Ten- 
nessee to  become  vice-president,  he  was  the  recipient,  on  March  3, 
1865,  of  the  following  generous  and  well-deserved  letter  from 
Stanton : 

This  Department  has  accepted  your  resignation  as  brigadier-general 
and  military  governor  of  Tennessee.  Permit  me  to  render  you  the  thanks 
of  this  Department  for  your  patriotic  and  able  services  during  the  eventful 
period  through  which  you  have  executed  the  high  trusts  committed  to  your 
charge. 

In  one  of  the  darkest  hours  of  the  great  struggle  for  national  exist- 
ence against  rebellious  foes,  the  Government  called  you  from  the  Senate, 
from  the  comparatively  safe  and  easy  duties  of  civil  life,  to  place  you  in  front 
of  the  enemy  and  in  a  position  of  personal  toil  and  danger  perhaps  more 
hazardous  than  was  encountered  by  any  other  citizen  or  military  officer  of 
the  United  States. 

With  patriotic  promptness  you  assumed  the  post  and  maintained  it 
under  circumstances  of  unparalleled  trial  until  recent  events  have  brought 
deliverance  and  safety  to  your  State  and  to  the  integrity  of  that  constitu- 
tional Union  to  which  you  so  long  and  gallantly  periled  all  that  is  dear 
to  man  on  earth. 

That  you  may  be  spared  to  enjoy  the  new  honors  and  perform  the 
high  duties  to  which  you  have  been  called  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States  is  the  sincere  wish  of  one  who,  in  every  personal  and  official  relation, 
has  found  you  worthy  of  the  confidence  of  the  Government  and  the  honor 
and  esteem  of  your  fellow  citizens. 

A  few  days  later  Johnson  succeeded  Lincoln  as  president,  con- 
fronted with  new  and  intricate  problems,  and  many  sad  conditions. 
Throughout  the  South,  except  where  straggling  patches  were  tilled 
by  ex-slaves  under  military  tutelage, 

No  products  did  the  barren  fields  afford. 

Save  man  and  steel — the  soldier  and  his  sword. 

There  were  no  mails,  no  post-offices,  no  commerce,  no  money, 
no  industries — nothing  but  chaos  in  society,  paralysis  in  industry, 
anarchy  in  politics,  and  poverty  among  the  people. 


PARTING  OF  THE  WAYS  301 

A  numerous  faction  in  the  North  contended  that  the  moment 
the  insurgents  surrendered  or  were  captured,  their  hostile  and 
illegal  State  governments  became  formal  and  legal,  and  the  States 
themselves  full  parts  of  the  Federal  Union. 

Stanton  held  that  such  a  theory  was  absurd  and  that  every 
insurgent  organization,  civil  and  military,  was  wiped  out  by  the 
victory  of  the  Federal  arms  and  that  the  conquered  sections  pos- 
sessed no  rights  not  granted  by  the  conqueror.  Said  he :  "A  public 
enemy  cannot  come  into  Congress  and  vote  down  the  measures  pro- 
posed for  his  subjugation  or  reconstruction.*  The  culprit  cannot 
sit  as  a  member  of  the  jury  in  the  trial  of  its  own  case." 

The  conflicting  arguments  of  statesmen  and  jurists,  mixed  with 
fearful  threats  by  the  new  President  against  the  insurgent  leaders, 
distracted  the  masses  and  rendered  any  decisive  step  hazardous. 
However,  as  very  many  had  wrongly  thought,  with  Lincoln,  that 
sovereignty  attached  to  the  soil  and  not  to  the  inhabitants,  Stanton 
prepared  a  plan  of  reconstruction  on  the  surrender  of  Lee  which 
he  handed  to  Lincoln  in  the  morning  of  the  day  before  the  assassina- 
tion. Concerning  this  plan  and  the  attitude  of  Lincoln,  Stanton  test- 
ified under  oath  before  a  committee  of  Congress : 

On  the  last  day  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  life  there  was  a  cabinet  meeting,  at 
which  General  Grant  and  all  the  members  of  the  cabinet  except  Mr.  Seward 
were  present.  General  Grant  at  the  time  made  a  report  of  the  condition  of 
the  country  as  he  conceived  it  to  be  on  the  surrender  of  Johnston's  army, 
which  was  regarded  as  absolutely  certain.  The  subject  of  reconstruction 
was  talked  of  at  considerable  length.  Shortly  previous  to  that  time  I  had 
myself,  with  a  view  of  putting  in  a  practical  form  the  means  of  overcoming 
what  seemed  to  be  a  difficulty  in  the  mind  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  to  the  mode 
of  reconstruction,  prepared  a  rough  draft  form  or  mode  by  which  the  author- 
ity and  laws  of  the  United  States  should  be  reestablished  and  governments 
recognized  in  the  rebel  States  under  the  Federal  authority,  without  any 
necessity  whatever  for  the  intervention  of  rebel  organizations  or  rebel  aid. 

In  the  course  of  that  consultation  Mr.  Lincoln  alluded  to  the  paper, 
went  into  his  room,  brought  it  out,  and  asked  me  to  read  it,  which  I  did, 
and  explained  my  ideas  in  regard  to  it.  There  was  one  point  which  I  had 
left  open;  that  was  as  to  who  should  constitute  the  electors  in  the  respec- 
tive States.  That  I  supposed  to  be  the  only  important  point  upon  which  a 
difference  of  opinion  could  arise — whether  the  blacks  should  have  suffrage 
in  the  States,  or  whether  it  should  be  confined  for  purposes  of  reorganiza- 
tion to  those  who  had  exercised  it  under  the  former  State  laws.     I  left  a 


*On  Stanton's  advice,  previous  to  counting  the  electoral  votes  of  the 
States,  Congress  passed  a  resolution  in  February,  1865,  deciding  that  the 
rebellious  States  were  not  entitled  to  vote  for  presidential  electors. 


302  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

blank  upon  that  subject  to  be  considered.  There  was  at  that  time  nothing 
adopted  about  it  and  no  opinion  expressed;  it  was  only  a  project.  I  was 
requested  by  the  other  members  of  the  cabinet,  and  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  to  have 
a  Qopy  printed  for  each  member  for  subsequent  consideration. 

My  object  was  simply  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  the  President  and 
cabinet,  in  a  practical  form,  what  I  thought  might  be  a  possible  means  of 
organization  without  rebel  intervention.  Mr.  Lincoln  seemed  to  be  laboring 
under  the  impression  that  there  must  be  some  starting  point  in  the  reor- 
ganization, and  that  it  could  be  only  through  the  agency  of  the  rebel  organ- 
izations then  existing,  but  which  I  did  not  deem  to  be  at  all  necessary. 

The  plan  of  reconstruction  mentioned  in  the  foregoing-  testi- 
mony was  adopted  by  Johnson  when  he  became  president,  without 
change  in  word  or  punctuation,  and  issued  on  May  9,  1865,  as  an 
"Executive  Order  to  reestablish  the  authority  of  the  United  States 
and  execute  the  laws  within  the  geographical  limits  known  as  the 
State  of  Virginia,"  as  follows : 

Ordered:  First— T\\^\.  all  acts  and  proceedings  of  the  political,  mili- 
tary, and  civil  organizations  which  have  been  in  a  state  of  insurrection  and 
rebellion  within  the  State  of  Virginia  against  the  authority  and  laws  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  which  Jefferson  Davis,  John  Letcher,  and  William 
Smith  were  late  the  respective  chiefs,  are  declared  null  and  void.  All  per- 
sons who  shall  exercise,  claim,  pretend,  or  attempt  to  exercise  any  political, 
military,  or  civil  power,  authority,  jurisdiction,  or  right,  by,  through,  or 
under  Jefferson  Davis,  late  of  the  City  of  Richmond,  and  his  confederates, 
or  under  John  Letcher  or  William  Smith  and  their  confederates,  or  under 
any  pretended  political,  military,  or  civil  commission  or  authority  issued 
by  them  or  any  of  them  since  the  17th  day  of  April,  1861,  shall  be  deemed 
and  taken  as  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  and  shall  be  dealt  with 
accordingly. 

Second — That  the  Secretary  of  State  proceed  to  put  in  force  all  laws 
of  the  United  States,  the  administration  whereof  belongs  to  the  Depart- 
ment of  State,  applicable  to  the  geographical  limits  aforesaid. 

Third — That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  proceed  without  delay  to 
nominate  for  appointment  assessors  of  taxes  and  collectors  of  custom  and 
internal  revenue,  and  such  other  officers  of  the  Treasury  Department  as  are 
authorized  by  law,  and  shall  put  into  execution  the  revenue  laws  of  the 
United  States  within  the  geographical  limits  aforesaid.  In  making  appoint- 
ments the  preference  shall  be  given  to  qualified  loyal  persons  residing  within 
the  districts  where  their  respective  duties  are  to  be  performed.  But  if  suit- 
able persons  shall  not  be  found  resident  of  the  districts,  then  persons  resid- 
ing in  other  States  or  districts  shall  be  appointed. 

Fourth — That  the  Postmaster-General  shall  proceed  to  establish  post- 
offices  and  post  routes,  and  put  into  execution  the  postal  laws  of  the  United 
States  within  the  said  State,  giving  the  loyal  residents  the  preference  of  ap- 
pointment; but  if  suitable  persons  are  not  found,  then  to  appoint  agents, 
etc.,  from  other  States. 


PARTING  OF  THE  WAYS  •  303 

Fifth — That  the  District  Judge  of  said  district  proceed  to  hold  courts 
within  said  State  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  acts  of  Congress. 
The  Attorney-General  will  instruct  the  proper  officers  to  libel  and  bring 
to  judgment,  confiscation,  and  sale,  property  subject  to  confiscation,  and 
enforce  the  administration  of  justice  within  said  States,  in  all  matters  civil 
and  criminal  within  the  cognizance  and  jurisdiction  of  the  Federal  courts. 

Sixth — That  the  Secretary  of  War  assign  such  assistant  provost  marshal- 
generals  and  such  provost  marshals  in  each  district  of  said  State  as  may 
be  deemed  necessar3^ 

Seventh — The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  will  take  possession  of  all  public 
property  belonging  to  the  Navy  Department,  within  said  geographical  limits, 
and  put  in  operation  all  acts  of  Congress  in  relation  to  naval  affairs  having 
application  to  said  State. 

Eighth — The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  will  also  put  in  force  the  laws 
relating  to  the  Department  of  the   Interior. 

Ninth — That  to  carry  into  effect  the  guarantee  of  the  Federal  constitu- 
tion of  a  republican  form  of  State  government,  and  afford  the  advantage 
and  security  of  domestic  laws,  as  well  as  to  complete  the  reestablishment  of 
the  authority  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  the  full  and  complete 
restoration  of  peace  within  the  limits  aforesaid,  Francis  H.  Pierrepont,  [then 
military]  governor  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  will  be  aided  by  the  Federal 
Government,  so  far  as  may  be  necessary,  in  the  lawful  measures  which  he 
may  take  for  the  extension  and  administration  of  the  State  government 
throughout  the  geographical  limits  of  said  State. 

Before  reconstruction  could  be  taken  up  in  other  States,  Secre- 
tary Seward  had  sufficiently  recovered  from  the  attempt  upon  his 
life  to  make  his  influence  felt,  supplemented  immediately  by  that 
of  Judge  J.  S.  Black,  Edgar  Cowan,  Montgomery  Blair,  Reverdy 
Johnson,  and  others  of  their  belief  who  had  allied  themselves  with 
the  President. 

Seward  first  struck  section  six  from  Stanton's  original  recon- 
struction order,  so  that  the  man  who  had  conquered  the  insurrec- 
tionary country  should  have  nothing  to  do  with  caring  for  or  admin- 
istering the  fruits  of  his  victory.  Then  section  nine  was  eliminated 
and  a  series  of  "whereas's"  prefixed  to  the  document  defining  suf- 
frage and  citizenship  and  authorizing  constitutional  conventions, 
etc., — all  exclusive  prerogatives  of  Congress. 

Thus  reconstructed,  Stanton's  reconstruction  order  was  issued 
as  a  presidential  proclamation  in  North  Carolina.  This,  however, 
was  not  done  before  Stanton  had  distinctly  warned  Seward  that  if 
the  President  should  declare  the  Rebellion  ended  and  withdraw  and 
terminate  the  military  governments  established  by  the  War  Depart- 
ment, thus  impairing  if  not  resigning  his  powers  as  commander-in- 


304  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

chief,  he  would  become  an  usurper  in  attempting  to  appoint,  create, 
or  select  governors  or  other  civil  officers  in  the  South  without  an- 
tecedent action  by  Congress. 

Seward  thereupon  sent  letters  to  all  the  so-called  governors 
who  had  been  appointed  by  Johnson  to  succeed  the  military  govern- 
ors, informing  them  that  their  appointments  must  be  considered 
"provisional  only  until  the  civil  authorities  shall  be  restored  with 
the  authority  of  Congress" — curious  advice  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
the  appointments  themselves  were  illegal,  whether  for  long  or  short 
periods,  "provisional"  or  otherwise. 

Here  begins  the  parting  of  the  ways  between  Stanton  and  John- 
son, 


CHAPTER  LIV. 
TURMOIL— RESCUING  GRANT. 

Six  of  these  "provisional"  governors  were  appointed  within  six 
weeks  and  others  followed  in  due  time.  Under  them  elections  were 
held  which  resulted  in  filling  the  local  offices  and  legislatures  with 
men  hostile  to  the  Federal  authority  ;*  electing  as  representatives 
and  senators  those  only  who  had  lately  been  in  rebellion ;  promul- 
gating State  constitutions  without  submitting  them  to  the  people; 
and  enacting  oppressive  laws  against  the  blacks. 

In  South  Carolina  "Governor"  Perry  suspended  everything 
that  had  been  accomplished  and  reinstated  the  laws  in  existence 
prior  to  secession,  forcing  the  military  commanders  of  that  Depart- 
ment to  send  protests  to  Stanton  against  that  manner  of  reversing 
the  results  of  the  war. 

Once  more  the  North  became  aroused  and  thunders  of  indigna- 
tion rolled  against  the  White  House.  General  Carl  Schurz  was  sent 
to  investigate  and  report  upon  conditions  and  sentiments  in  the 
South.  The  result  did  not  suit  President  Johnson,  who  requested 
Grant  to  make  a  counter  report. 

Grant,  with  Stanton's  formal  approval,  left  his  office  on  Novem- 
ber 27,  1865,  but  was  back  in  Washington  in  eight  or  ten  days.  He 
saw  but  few  persons  and  gathered  no  testimony.  His  report  com- 
prised two  printed  pages.  He  reported  no  facts,  but,  as  Badeau 
says  (p.  33)  reported  according  to  "the  expectations  of  the  Presi- 
dent." 

Schurz's  report  was  elaborate,  containing  one  hundred  and  five 
printed  pages.  It  was  reinforced  by  official  documents  and  formal 
statements  from  nearly  all  of  the  military  officers  (many  of  them 
men  of  distinction)  in  the  insurrectionary  sections.  Therefore  Stan- 


*Only  Confederates  were  chosen.  When,  as  was  generally  the  case, 
men  were  elected  who  could  not  take  the  prescribed  oath,  their  names  were 
forwarded  to  Johnson  who  promptly  issued  pardons  to  them,  thus  making 
them  his  active  partisans. 


306  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

ton  thought  a  contrary  statement  by  Grant,  unsupported  by  facts, 
would  prove  to  be  injudicious  and  probably  disastrous,  but  Johnson 
ordered  otherwise,  and,  against  Stanton's  advice,  Grant's  so-called 
report  (termed  "whitewash"  by  Senator  Charles  Sumner)  was  sent 
by  the  President  to  Congress  with  and  as  an  antidote  to  that  of 
Schurz,  who  thus  concluded : 

(1)  The  loyalt)^  of  the  masses  and  of  most  of  the  leaders  of  the  South- 
ern people  consists  in  submission  to  necessity.  (2)  Slavery  in  the  old 
form  cannot  be  kept  up.  (3)  The  ordinances  abolishing  slavery,  passed 
by  the  conventions  under  the  pressure  of  circumstances,  will  not  be  looked 
upon  as  barring  the  establishment  of  a  new  form  of  servitude  and  (4)  will 
result  in  bloody  collision  and  will  certainly  plunge  Southern  society  into 
restless  fluctuations  and  anarchial  confusion. 

Congress,  spurning  Grant's  and  accepting  Schurz's  conclusions, 
declared  without  debate  against  admitting  the  members  and  senators 
elected  under  Johnson's  "provisional"  governments ;  also  against 
the  proposition  of  the  rebellious  States  to  reenact  their  former  slave 
constitutions,  and  that  the  insurgent  leaders,  by  their  acts  of  war, 
had  become  tainted  with  treason  and  could  not  participate  in  public 
afifairs,  even  as  voters  upon  Federal  matters,  until  they  had  been 
purged, 

Johnson  was  furious,  denouncing  and  defying  Congress  as  an 
'"usurper"  and  "dictator."  The  situation  was  critical.  The  Presi- 
dent and  all  of  his  cabinet  (save  Stanton)  and  apparently  the  head 
of  the  armies  (Grant)*  were  arrayed  on  one  side,  while  Stanton  and 
a  majority  of  Congress  were  arrayed  on  the  other  to  maintain  the 
Union  and  a  rational  form  of  reconstruction. 

On  February  19,  1866,  the  President  vetoed  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau  Bill,  which  Stanton  had  championed,  for  the  alleged  reason 
that  the  insurrectionary  States  had  no  representatives  in  the  Con- 
gress which  enacted  the  law.  On  the  following  day  Representative 
Thaddeus  Stevens  presented  a  resolution  declaring  that  the  repre- 
sentatives of  no  rebellious  States  should  be  received  in  Congress 
until  that  body  had  decided  that  such  States  were  entitled  to  repre- 
sentation, and  it  passed  both  Houses. 


♦"General  Grant  was  a  Democrat  and  thought  and  acted  in  harmony 
with  President  Johnson  in  politics  and  reconstruction  for  a  time  after  the 
close  of  the  war,"  says  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  confidential  clerk  to  both 
Stanton  and  Grant. 


TURMOIL— RESCUING  GRANT  307 

On  April  2,  1866,  hoping  to  submerge  the  law-making  power, 
Johnson  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  the  Rebellion  closed  and 
the  insurrectionary  States  back  in  the  Union  as  before,  with  all  the 
rights,  powers,  and  privileges  of  the  loyal  States, 

"If  President  Johnson  can  put  flesh  on  the  bones  and  blood  in 
the  veins  of  three  hundred  thousand  men  and  return  them  to  their 
families,  he  can  make  this  nation  think  he  is  right ;  if  not,  he  never 
can,"  said  Stanton  to  Philetus  Sawyer  of  Wisconsin.  "A  year  ago 
we  had  a  million  fighting  men  in  the  field  and  the  same  sentiment 
and  influence  that  sent  them  there  will  return  them  again,  before  the 
people  will  see  the  political  power  of  this  nation  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  rebellious  States  by  Andrew  Johnson  or  any  other 
man." 

On  May  22,  1866,  the  President  and  his  cabinet  were  serenaded, 
according  to  a  plan  conceived  by  Alex.  W.  Randall  of  Wisconsin, 
who  was  subsequently  rewarded  with  the  appointment  of  postmas- 
ter-general. The  device  was  intended  to  trap  certain  members  of  the 
cabinet,  all  of  whom  were  invited  to  speak. 

Stanton  prepared  in  writing  a  moderate  but  adroit  speech,  which 
was  intended  mainly  for  Congress.  After  stating  his  differences 
with  Johnson  and  his  adherence  to  a  rational  and  permanent  form 
of  reconstruction,  he  said  he  had  advised  the  President  to  sign  the 
Civil  Rights,  Freedmen's  Bureau,  and  Reconstruction  bills,  which 
were  vetoed,  and  concluded  with  emphasis,  that  he  was  opposed  to 
the  third  section  of  a  pending  amendment  of  the  constitution  pro- 
posing to  "exclude  all  States  lately  in  rebellion  from  representation 
in  Congress  till  July  4,  1870."  He  declared  that  for  Congress  to  tie 
its  hands  more  than  four  years  in  advance  was  unwise  and  danger- 
ous, as  circumstances  might  so  change  in  the  meantime  as  to  make 
the  readmission  of  the  seceded  States  proper  and  wholesome. 

Six  days  later  the  Senate  unanimously  struck  out  the  section 
Stanton  thus  objected  to,  although  it  had  passed  the  House  by  a 
large  majority.  His  influence  with  Congress  was  yet  omnipotent, 
as  it  had  been  for  years,  for  he  had  made  no  mistakes  in  his  advice 
to  that  body  or  to  the  President. 

Shortly  after  this,  by  a  law  of  Congress,  Grant  was  elevated  to 
the  grand  position  of  general.  Why?  He  was  gaining  no  victories  ; 
he  was  leading  no  armies ;  the  war  was  over ;  only  twenty-five  thou- 
sand of  the  million  soldiers  under  his  command  a  little  over  a  year 
before  were  left  on  the  rolls;  there  was  no  preparation  for  another 
war. 


308  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

President  Johnson,  now  fully  entered  upon  his  great  fight 
against  Congress  and  the  loyal  masses,  was  toadying  to  Grant  in  the 
hope  of  permanently  retaining  him  as  a  powerful  helpmeet,  leading 
the  public  to  believe,  with  regret  and  grief,  that  the  General  en- 
dorsed the  President's  policy.  Congress,  therefore,  would  have  been 
far  more  likely,  if  left  to  itself,  to  curtail  than  add  to  Grant's  glories 
and  power. 

The  proposed  promotion  was  hung  up  a  long  time  in  commit- 
tee. Stanton,  seeing  Grant  drifting  farther  and  farther  from  the 
people,  farther  and  farther  from  the  record  and  the  fruits  of  his  own 
great  achievements,  and  hoping  to  rescue  him  from  being  completely 
Johnsonized,  went  to  the  committee  and  gave  reasons  which,  though 
entirely  political,  were  nevertheless  accepted  as  sufficient  for  the 
passage  of  the  bill ;  and  it  was  passed.  The  President  signed  it  be- 
cause he  believed  that  he  had  Grant  safely  appropriated  to  his  own 
uses  and  purposes,  and  that  this  magnificent  elevation  of  a  distin- 
guished ally  would  add  to  his  own  strength  in  the  battle  that  was 
now  on  with  Congress  and  the  loyal  people.  But  Stanton,  relying 
on  Grant's  abundant  store  of  common  sense  and  the  ultimate  effect 
of  the  influence  of  the  Union  masses  who  had  idolized  him,  did  not 
think  so.  He  felt  that  Grant,  who  was  a  child  in  politics,  would 
sooner  or  later  discover  the  real  trend  of  affairs  and  attach  himself 
in  peace  to  the  people  for  whom  he  had  fought  in  war,  and  whose 
representatives  had  bestowed  upon  him  this  great  additional  honor. 
Therefore  he  gave  not  only  his  official  but  his  close  personal  atten- 
tion to  this  promotion,  and  was  careful  to  make  Grant  acquainted 
with  the  fact,  as  this  private  note,  by  his  own  hand,  delivered  by  a 
special  messenger  on  July  25,  1866,  will  show : 

General: 

The  President  has  signed  the  bill  reviving  the  grade  of  general.  I  have 
made  out  and  laid  your  commission  before  him  and  it  will  be  sent  to  the 
Senate  this  morning. 

Although  Grant  continued  his  intimacy  at  the  White  House,  he 
did  so,  after  September,  1866,  under  strong  mental  protest  and  only 
after  persistent  dragooning — a  fact,  however,  which  the  people  have 
not  been  permitted  to  know  to  this  day. 


CHAPTER  LV. 

"SWINGING  AROUND  THE  CIRCLE '—GREAT  LETTER  TO 

ASHLEY. 

The  autumn  of  1866  was  especially  full  of  contention  and  chaos. 
Johnson  arranged  a  series  of  so-called  national  conventions  (one 
called  for  Philadelphia  on  August  14,  and  the  other  for  Cleveland 
on  September  17)  for  the  purpose  of  influencing  pending  congres- 
sional elections  in  favor  of  "my  policy." 

To  offset  the  Philadelphia  convention  Stanton  suggested  that 
an  imposing  assembly  called  "Loyalists  of  the  South"  be  held  in 
the  same  city  on  September  3.  It  was  a  very  large  gathering  and 
drew^  as  participants  or  spectators  the  most  distinguished  men  of 
the  nation,  the  Southerners  having  requested  delegates  from  the 
North  to  meet  and  confer  with  them.  The  general  mass-meeting  on 
the  third  day  was  the  largest  ever  seen  in  Philadelphia. 

In  order  to  neutralize  the  effect  of  the  convention  at  Cleveland, 
a  vast  gathering  of  soldiers  and  sailors  opposed  to  Johnson  and 
upholding  Stanton  and  Congress,  met  in  Pittsburg  on  the  25th  of 
September,  Every  State  in  the  Union  was  represented.  John  A. 
Logan  presided  and  nearly  all  the  great  generals  were  present  on 
the  stage. 

Four  days  prior  to  this  gathering  Stanton  felt  called  upon  to 
send  the  following  letter : 

Washington  City,  September  21,  1866. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  have  heard  it  intimated  that  some  of  the  delegates  to  the  Pittsburg 
convention  contemplate  offering  a  complimentary  resolution  in  favor  of 
myself,  and  asking  me  to  retain  my  position  in  the  War  Department.  Gen- 
eral Irwin  of  Philadelphia  and  General  Brisbane  of  Ohio  have  been  men- 
tioned as  having  that  disposition. 

It  must  be  obvious  to  you,  as  it  is  to  me,  that  any  personal  allusion 
favorable  to  me  would  be  prejudicial  to  any  good  influence  I  may  be  able 
to  exert.  I  desire  no  endorsement,  and  personal  compliments  are  matters 
for  which  I  have  no  taste.  /  wish  you  would  therefore  see  that  nothing  of  that 
kind  is  done  in  respect  to  myself. 

Yours  truly, 
The  Honorable  J.  K.  Moorhead.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 


310  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

In  the  meantime  Johnson  (accompanied  by  General  Grant, 
Postmaster-General  Alex.  W.  Randall,  Colonel  W.  G.  IMoore,  Gen- 
eral J.  K.  Barnes,  Admiral  David  Farragut,  Secretary  Seward,  and 
others)  undertook  his  notorious  "swing  around  the  circle."  Grant's 
presence  in  the  procession  was  arranged  in  the  hope  that  it  would 
influence  soldiers  to  support  such  candidates  for  Congress  as  were 
known  to  favor  the  "Johnson  policy"  of  reconstruction. 

The  President  harangued  the  disrespectful  crowds  that  came 
out  to  see  him  along  the  line  of  the  journey  to  St.  Louis,  in  a  man- 
ner unparalleled  in  American  history.  A  feature  of  the  performance 
at  Cleveland  brought  out  a  letter  from  Congressman  J.  M.  Ashley 
of  Toledo,  to  which  Stanton  made  a  remarkable  reply,  as  follows: 

Washington   City,   September   14,   1S66. 
My  Dear  Sir: 

I  beg  to  acknowledge  yours  of  the  6th  instant.  Having  made  several 
cautious  inquiries,  I  am  forced  with  regret  to  say  that  I  believe  I  can  do 
nothing  to  make  secure  the  appointment  of  your  friend.  These  recon- 
naissances in  his  behalf  prevented  an  earlier  reply. 

There  is,  indeed,  "danger  ahead,"  the  most  serious  being  that  Johnson 
and  Grant,  as  you  put  it,  "suck  through  the  same  quill."  The  President  has 
for  more  than  a  year  put  forth  persistent  efforts  to  capture  Grant  for  pur- 
poses that  are  unmistakable.*  He  has  in  a  measure  succeeded,  but  I  firmly 
believe  that  the  head  of  the  armies  cannot  ultimately  be  corrupted.  In  fact, 
I  may  say  I  know  it.  Yet  Grant  goes  daily,  almost  hourly,  to  the  White 
House,  in  full  view  of  the  populace,  and  at  this  moment  is  gyrating  through 
the  country  on  a  deplorable  joust  with  Mr.  Johnson.  These  things,  with 
the  exposure  and  revulsion  that  are  sure  to  follow,  will  corrupt  public  senti- 
ment and  confuse  national  leadership,  if  not  taint  the  General  himself. 

To  taint  an  individual,  even  one  so  lofty  as  Grant,  is  nothing;  but  to 
corrupt  the  foundation  masses  of  public  sentiment  is  destructive.  You  say 
with  "surprise  and  humiliation"  that  Grant  could  not  appear  at  Cleveland; 
that  Johnson  was  in  such  a  condition  that  it  would  have  been  better  if  he 
had  gone  into  seclusion  and  that  the  "current  performances  of  our  Executive 
are  so  scandalous  that  means  should  be  sought  to  end  them." 

Our  common  masses  are  temperate  and  God-fearing.  To  them  such 
performances  are  indeed  scandalous;  but  here  in  Washington,  as  you  know, 
it  is  wholly  different.  Here  the  populace — we  have  no  people — worship 
power.  Johnson  represents  power,  and  the  public  eye — the  ever-hungering 
public  eye — regards  it  as  dangerous  to  look  too  closely  into  the  private  con- 
duct of  those  who  happen   at  a   given   moment  to   be   on   the   throne.      But 


*Says  Charles  A.  Dana:  "Grant's  elevation  to  the  presidency  was  fore- 
seen by  Mr.  Stanton  long  before  it  was  generally  anticipated  by  the  coun- 
try. Even  in  1865  he  said  to  me:  'Andy  Johnson  is  manoeuvring  for  the 
\Vhite  House  but  Grant  will  beat  him.'  " 


President  Andrew  Johnson. 


GREAT  LETTER  TO  ASHLEY  311 

when  the  great  concourse  of  virtuous  people  behold  the  head  of  our  nation 
reeling  through  the  country  as  set  forth  daily  in  the  public  prints  and  as 
described  in  your  letter,  I  know  disrespect  and  demoralization  must  follow. 

As  your  letter  seems  to  be  somewhat  of  an  appeal  to  me,  I  must  reply 
that  my  hand  is  not  on  the  tiller;  and,  if  it  were,  the  exhibition  now  going 
on  would  do  more  to  bring  the  General  to  his  senses  than  anything  I  could 
possibly  do. 

You  ask,  "What  are  we  coming  to — what  is  in  store  for  us?"  No  man 
can  say.    I  have  forebodings;  perils  appear  in  my  visions. 

These  new  and  augmenting  dangers  increase  my  longings  to  be  free — 
to  return  to  my  family,  friends,  and  profession;  to  rest;  to  have  peace.  But 
is  it  so  to  be?  When  General  Grant  telegraphed  that  Lee  would  surrender 
in  a  few  days,  I  went  to  ^Nlr.  Lincoln,  like  a  bird  set  free,  and  told  him  that 
my  work  was  done — the  task  set  for  me  when  I  accepted  the  office  finished 
— and  handed  over  my  resignation. 

Putting  his  hands  on  my  shoulders,  tears  filling  his  eyes,  he  said: 
"Stanton,  you  cannot  go.  Reconstruction  is  more  difficult  and  dangerous 
than  construction  or  destruction.  You  have  been  our  main  reliance;  you 
must  help  us  through  the  final  act.  The  bag  is  filled.  It  must  be  tied,  and 
tied  securely.  Some  knots  slip;  yours  do  not.  You  understand  the  situation 
better  than  anybody  else,  and  it  is  my  wish  and  the  country's  that  you 
remain." 

I  instantly  begged  the  President  to  understand  that  I  had  not  proposed 
to  leave  him  with  any  trouble  or  tasks  in  my  domain  unprovided  for;  that 
I  had  made  an  outline  of  a  plan  of  reconstruction  (which  he  then  received) 
with  briefs  more  or  less  elaborate,  explaining  the  varying  circumstances  to 
be  considered  in  carrying  out  the  reconstruction  acts  (which  Congress  must 
provide)  in  each  of  the  several  States  and  localities;  that  I  had  prepared 
detailed  instructions  to  guide  the  quartermaster-general  in  turning  over  to 
their  rightful  owners,  tentatively  or  fully,  the  railways,  locomotives,  rolling 
stock,  and  other  property  seized  or  acquired  during  the  military  operations 
of  the  United  States;  and  also  made  memoranda  in  reference  to  establishing 
national  post-offices,  postal  facilities.  Federal  courts,  and  revenue  service; 
and  preparing  generally  to  reopen  commerce  and  social  intercourse  between 
the  sections  on  a  proper  and  enduring  basis. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  never  a  good  projector  and  frequently  not  a  good  man- 
ager; but  his  intuition  was  wonderful.  He  was  one  of  the  best  of  men  to 
have  by  the  side  of  a  projector  or  manager.  He  steadily  opposed  arming 
and  freeing  slaves,  for  reasons  that  will  probably  never  be  written,  for 
nearly  a  year  and  a  half;  but  usually  his  mind  was  as  free  from  bias  as  any 
I  ever  knew,  and  it  was  a  genuine  pleasure  to  consult  him  on  new  matters. 

As  I  began  to  relate  the  preparations  I  had  made  for  conducting  the 
Department  after  my  resignation,  a  curious  and  interesting  expression  of  his 
face  disclosed  that  he  had  discovered  a  summary  reply  to  my  argument. 
The  moment  I  had  finished  he  put  his  hand  on  my  shoulder  again  and  ob- 
served triumphantly:  "Stanton,  you  give  the  very  reason  why  you  should 
not  resign.  You  admit  that  you  have  looked  into  the  future,  foreseen 
troubles  there,  and  tried  to  prepare  in  advance  for  my  relief  and  the  benefit 
of  the  nation.     Your  recitation  sustains  me  exactly.     You  must  stay," 


312  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

I  had  hardly  returned  to  my  desk,  for,  of  course,  an  appeal  like  that 
could  not  be  overridden,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  murdered. 

When  the  resulting  confusion  had  somewhat  subsided,  the  members 
of  the  cabinet  (except  Mr.  Seward)  informally  tendered  their  resignations 
to  take  effect  at  the  convenience  of  the  new  president.  Perhaps  I  was  first 
to  make  the  suggestion.  He  replied:  "No,  you  must  keep  the  machinery 
moving.  We  must  retain  the  chief  engineer,  by  all  means.  I  hope  you  will 
not  think  of  resigning."* 

There  you  have  the  situation:  When  I  thought  it  safe  to  resign  I  could 
not,  and  now  that  I  can  resign,  I  dare  not. 

However,  as  soon  as  the  way  shall  be  clear,  which  I  hope  will  be  soon 
after  the  meeting  of  Congress,  I  shall  retire.  Congress  can  so  tie  the  hands 
of  Johnson  and  Seward  that  they  will  not  be  able  to  wreck  the  country  and 
throw  us  into  another  revolution,  although  they  have  gone  so  far  already 
that  no  statutes  can  prevent  their  acts  from  bringing  on  a  reign  of  chaos 
and  bloodshed  in  the  South  that  will  horrify  the  civilized  world. 

My  physical  condition  is  deplorable.  Prostrated  by  spasms  of  asthma 
and  tortured  by  unbearable  pains  in  my  head,  it  is  a  problem  how  much 
longer  I  can  keep  up. 

Come  on  early,  I  beg  you,  for  Congress  has  a  heavy  task  before  it.  Hop- 
ing to  see  you  soon,  and  that  your  friend  may  receive  his  appointment,  I  am, 

Truly  your  friend, 

The  Honorable  J.  M.  Ashley.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

The  prophecies  of  the  foregoing  communication  are  noteworthy. 
The  one  declaring  that  the  Johnson-Seward  policy  would  "bring  on 
a  reign  of  chaos  and  bloodshed  in  the  South  that  would  horrify  the 
civilized  world,"  was  verified  by  the  operations  of  the  Pale  Faces, 
White  Camelias,  Tailhold  Clubs,  White  Leagues,  Kuklux  Klans, 
and  similar  organizations  that  immediately  sprang  up  amidst  the 
young,  restless,  and  less  reputable  classes  in  that  section. 

General  P.  H.  Sheridan  reported  to  Congress  that  "the  number 
of  persons  killed  and  wounded  in  this  State  [Louisiana]  since  1866, 
on  account  of  their  political  opinions,  is  as  follows :  Killed,  2,141 ; 
wounded,  2,115 ;  total,  4,256."  Similar  reports  came  from  the  com- 
manders of  other  military  districts  in  the  South — a  frightful  fulfil- 
ment of  Stanton's  prophetic  letter. 


♦Charles  A.  Dana  says:  "Vice-President  Johnson  took  the  oath  of 
office  as  president  and  his  first  act,  most  becomingly  performed,  was  to 
thank  the  Secretary  of  War  for  all  that  he  had  accomplished  and  ask  him, 
while  they  held  each  other  by  the  hand,  to  stand  by  him  as  he  had  stood  by 
Mr.  Lincoln.  Mr.  Stanton  promised  and  kept  his  word  as  long  as  Mr.  John- 
son upheld  Lincoln's  principles." 


GREAT  LETTER  TO  ASHLEY  313 

His  measure  of  Grant  was  also  correct.  The  storm  of  indignant 
protest  against  Johnson  which  shook  the  North  to  its  center  finally 
opened  Grant's  eyes.  He  turned  back  in  disgust  before  completing 
the  "swing  around  the  circle,"  and,  slightly  more  than  a  year  after 
making  his  perfunctory  statement  of  conditions  in  the  South  in 
opposition  to  the  fortified  reports  of  Carl  Schurz  and  the  military 
officers  of  that  section,  ordered  General  Howard  of  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau  to  give  him  a  list  of  the  murders  and  outrages  of  freedmen, 
Northern,  or  other  Union  men  and  refugees  in  the  Southern  States 
for  the  last  six  months  or  a  year,  as  he  "wished  to  make  a  report 
showing  that  the  courts  in  those  States  afforded  no  security  to  life 
or  property  of  the  classes  referred  to,  and  wished  to  recommend 
that  martial  law  be  declared  over  such  districts  as  do  not  afford  the 
proper  protection." 

That  Stanton  was  sincere  in  his  expressed  desire,  whenever 
the  country  should  be  at  peace,  to  retire  to  private  life  (at  least  to 
get  out  of  the  cabinet,  in  which  he  was  without  support)  is  con- 
firmed by  a  note,  written  a  few  days  after  the  date  of  the  Ashley  let- 
ter, to  Peter  H.  Watson,  his  long-trusted  friend,  which  was  deliv- 
ered at  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  by  a  special  messenger  in  the  person  of 
Major  Albert  E.  H.  Johnson: 

Washington  City,  October  19,  1866. 
My  Dear  Friend: 

I  have  thought  it  would  do  you  good  to  see  either  Albert  [E.  H.  John- 
son] or  myself,  and  as  I  cannot  leave  here  I  have  sent  him  to  you  to  make 
a  visit.  It  grieves  me  very  much  to  hear  of  your  continued  ill  health,  and 
the  more  especially  as  I  know  you  will  not  take  the  rest  needed  for  your 
recovery. 

The  last  Congress  directed  me  to  appoint  some  one  to  prepare  the 
official  reports,  etc.,  for  a  history  of  the  war.*    There  are  many  applications, 

*In  August,  1865,  Stanton  created  a  bureau  for  collecting,  indexing,  and 
preserving  Confederate  archives  and  appointed  the  learned  Francis  Lieber 
to  have  charge  of  the  work,  paying  him  from  the  provost-marshal  fund. 
In  December  following  Congress  resolved  that  no  one  in  the  Federal  ser- 
vice could  receive  compensation  except  from  money  previously  appropriated 
and  called  upon  Stanton  for  information.  He  replied:  "The  reason  for  the 
appointment  was  the  necessity  of  having  the  archives  collated  by  a  publicist 
of  known  character  and  reputation,  in  order  that  they  might  be  available 
to  the  Government  without  delay.  It  was  the  expectation  that  if  this  ap- 
pointment should  be  considered  unauthorized  by  any  existing  law,  its  obvious 
necessity  would  be  sanctioned  by  Congress."  Thereupon  Congress  enacted 
the  law  mentioned  in  the  letter  of  October  19,  under  which  Watson  was 
appointed,  but  did  not  serve,  and  thus  was  the  foundation  for  publishing 
the  Records  of  the  Rebellion  laid. 


314  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

but  none  that  suits  me.  If  your  health  is  sufficient,  you  would,  with  my 
aid,  do  the  work  better  than  any  one  else;  and  as  I  do  not  mean  to  be  here 
much  longer,  I  could  helpyou.  What  do  you  think  of  it?  Or  rather,  I  do 
not  want  you  to  think  at  all;  but  it  occurred  to  me  that  if  we  were  to  work 
together  a  while  on  something  that  required  little  labor  and  occasioned  no 
anxiety,  it  might  be  useful  to  both,  having  an  adequate  clerical  force  to  take 
off  the  drudgery.  But  I  do  not  know  enough  of  your  condition  to  judge 
whether  it  would  hurt  or  do  you  good.  Mrs.  Watson  is  the  better  judge — 
suppose  you  talk  with  her  about  the  matter. 

I  hope  she  and  the  children  are  well.  Mrs  Stanton  and  our  children 
are  now  at  Pittsburg.  Her  health  is  in  a  very  precarious  condition — so  much 
so  as  to  excite  great  anxiety  lest  she  should  go  into  rapid  consumption. 

Public  affairs  are  very  gloomj';  more  so,  and  with  more  reason  than 
ever  before — not  excepting  the  dark  hours  of  ISGO-l. 

I  beg  you  to  give  my  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Watson. 

With  unabated  afifection,  I  am,  as  ever. 

Yours  truly, 

The  Honorable  P.  II.  Watson.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 


CHAPTER  LVI. 
VICTORIOUS  OVER  JOHNSON  AND  HIS  ADVISERS. 

The  fruits  of  Andrew  Johnson's  "swing  around  the  circle"  were 
decidedly  contrary  to  his  expectations.  The  November  (1866) 
congressional  elections  went  overwhelmingly  against  him,  so  that 
the  Congress-elect  had  a  safe  majority  to  reinforce  Stanton  with 
necessary  legislation,  the  President's  veto  notwithstanding.  No 
veto  was  withheld,  however. 

Bills  admitting  Colorado  and  Nebraska  ;  granting  universal  suf- 
frage in  the  District  of  Columbia ;  preventing  the  President  from 
removing  certain  officers  (especially  Stanton)  and  appointing  suc- 
cessors without  the  "advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate" — called  the 
tenure-of-ofifice  law — and  a  measure  dividing  the  rebellious  States 
into  military  districts  and  providing  for  their  government,  were  en- 
acted, vetoed,  and  promptly  passed  over  the  vetoes  in  February  and 
March,  1867. 

More  than  a  year  prior  Stanton  saw  the  mad-bull  spirit  devel- 
oping in  President  Johnson  and  informed  senators  and  representa- 
tives that  probably  he  would  soon  be  forced  to  leave  the  War  De- 
partment. This  statement  led  to  the  enactment  of  the  tenure-of- 
ofiice  law.  "He  did  not  suggest  it  or  know  of  it  previous  to  its  ap- 
pearance in  Congress,"  says  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson.  "It  was 
brought  forward  for  him  alone.  No  other  officer  of  the  Govern- 
ment was  thought  of  or  cared  for.  Congress  felt  compelled  in  sheer 
self-defense  to  throw  its  power  around  him,  and  did  so.  In  cabinet 
Mr.  Stanton  opposed  the  bill  and  all  the  members  disclaimed  pro- 
tection under  it,  Mr.  Welles  going  so  far  as  to  state  that  the  mem- 
ber for  whom  it  was  framed  was  not  worthy  to  be  the  adviser  of  the 
President." 

History,  however,  shows  that  he  was  worthy  to  save  the  nation 
from  another  war. 

The  President  knew  the  object  of  the  law  but  dared  not  dis- 
miss Stanton  even  while  it  was  pending.  He  expected  to  force  him 
out  without  resorting  to  formal  terms  of  dismissal. 


316  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Under  the  reconstruction  act,  which  subdivided  the  South  into 
military  districts,  General  J.  M.  Schofield  was  placed  in  command 
of  the  First  District — Virginia ;  General  D.  E.  Sickles  of  the  Second 
— North  and  South  Carolina ;  General  John  Pope  of  the  Third — 
Georgia,  Florida,  and  Alabama ;  General  E.  O.  C.  Ord  of  the  Fourth 
— Arkansas  and  Mississippi ;  General  P.  H.  Sheridan  of  the  Fifth — 
Louisiana  and  Texas. 

Their  duties  were  to  protect  persons  and  property  and  punish 
criminals  regardless  of  color  or  previous  condition.  The  law  de- 
clared, however,  that  as  soon  as  proper  constitutions  and  State  gov- 
ernments had  been  formed,  forever  abolishing  slavery  and  granting 
equal  rights  of  suffrage,  military  control  of  such  States  should  cease 
and  they  should  be  returned  to  the  Union.  The  tact  and  courage 
of  these  military  governors  were  severely  tested.  The  conditions 
under  which  they  wrought  were  so  variant  and  perplexing  that  sev- 
eral of  them  asked  for  instructions  from  Washington  as  to  how  to 
enforce  certain  clauses  of  the  reconstruction  acts. 

The  task  of  formulating  such  instructions  gave  Stanton  an  op- 
portunity to  place  Johnson  and  his  cabinet  on  record.  It  is  not 
known  that  he  ever  made  formal  notes  of  cabinet  proceedings  in 
more  than  three  instances;  viz.,  when  discussing  the  evacuation  of 
Fort  Sumter  in  Buchanan's  cabinet;  when  vehemently  urging  the 
emancipation  of  slaves  in  Lincoln's  cabinet ;  and  when  debating  the 
question  of  whether  the  military  governors  of  the  lately  seceded 
States  were  to  obey  the  laws  of  Congress  or  obey  the  whims  of  the 
President. 

Cabinet  had  met  pursuant  to  agreement  to  approve  and  issue 
the  instructions  asked  for  by  the  military  governors.  Instead  of 
proceeding  to  do  so,  Johnson  presented  what  Stanton  called  an  ex- 
traordinary "string  of  questions"  prepared  for  him  by  Attorney- 
General  Stanbery,  on  which  categorical  answers  were  demanded. 
Stanton  suggested  that  copies  of  the  questions  be  furnished  to  each 
secretary  and  time  given  for  consideration  and  answer.  This  was 
denied  and  what  followed  is  thus  described  in  writing  by  Stanton 
himself  in  a  memorandum  marked  "B"  and  dated  "Noon,  June  19, 
1867": 

In  Cabinet:  The  special  interrogatories  hereinafter  mentioned  being 
presented  by  the  President  to  the  cabinet  for  their  consideration,  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  read  to  the  President  and  the  cabinet  the  following  statement 
of  his  views: 


VICTORIOUS  OVER  JOHNSON  AND  HIS  ADVISERS         317 

In  respect  to  the  interpretation  of  what  are  called  the  reconstruction 
acts  of  Congress,  I  am  of  opinion: 

1.  That  by  the  act  to  provide  for  more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel 
States  and  its  supplement,  Congress  designed  to  establish  a  military  govern- 
ment in  the  ten  rebel  States  paramount  to  all  other  government  whatsoever, 
and  made  those  States  "subject"  to  military  authority. 

2.  That  to  the  commanding  general  assigned  in  each  district  is  given 
command  over  all  persons,  private  or  official,  in  his  respective  district;  that 
command  to  be  sustained  by  military  force  adequate  to  enable  the  com- 
mander to  perform  his  duties  under  the  act. 

3.  That  the  duties  of  the  military  commanders  are:  To  protect  all 
persons  in  their  rights  of  person  and  property;  to  suppress  all  insurrection, 
disorder,  or  violence;  to  punish  all  disturbers  of  the  public  peace  and  crim- 
inals, and  to  this  end  (vis.,  a  punishment)  they  may  allow  local  tribunals 
to  try  offenders,  and  may  organize  military  commissions.  It  is  also  their 
duty  under  the  supplemental  act  to  cause  a  registration  to  be  made  and  elec- 
tion to  be  held  as  prescribed  by  Congress. 

4.  That,  as  the  power  thus  invested  in  the  military  commanders  em- 
braces the  exercise  of-  absolute  military  "command"  in  their  respective  dis- 
tricts, it  therefore  comprehends  the  removal  from  office  of  any  person  who 
may  hinder,  obstruct,  or  oppose  the  execution  of  the  specific  acts  of  Con- 
gress, or  occasion  disorder  in  the  command,  and  also  the  appointment  of 
any  officer  whose  functions  are  necessary  to  afford  protection  to  persons 
and  property,  or  to  suppress  insurrection,  disorder,  and  violence  within  the 
command.  And  hence  the  military  commanders  may,  by  virtue  of  the  acts 
of  Congress,  remove  from  office  any  provisional  governor,  judge,  or  public 
officer  or  agent,  and  substitute  others  whenever,  in  the  exercise  of  reason- 
able discretion,  he  deems  such  acts  needful  for  carrying  into  effect  the  pro- 
visions of  the  act  of  Congress. 

5.  That  the  powers  before  mentioned  are  invested  by  the  acts  of  Con- 
gress immediately  and  directly  in  the  commanding  generals  assigned  to  the 
several  districts,  and  cannot  be  exercised  by  the  President  in  person  any 
more  than  he  can  take  upon  himself  in  his  own  person  any  other  duty  of 
military  service  vested  in  a  specific  oMcer  by  law;  as  for  example  the  duties 
of  the  quartermaster-general,  commissary-general,  surgeon-general,  chief 
of  engineers,  or  chief  of  ordnance. 

6.  As  commander-in-chief,  and  under  his  authority  to  see  the  laws 
faithfully  executed,  the  President  may  remove  the  commander  of  a  district 
for  any  wilful  neglect  or  wanton  abuse  of  authority;  but  such  removal  should 
be  for  good  cause. 

7.  That  the  power  of  removal  being  vested  in  the  general  commanding 
the  district,  the  President  cannot  order  the  reinstatement  of  any  officer 
removed  by  the  commanding  general,  unless  it  appear  that  such  removal 
was  wanton  abuse  of  authority  by  the  commanding  general. 

The  special  interrogatories  presented  by  the  President  were  then  read 
by  the  Attorney-General  and  answered  as  follows: 

Q.  1.  Is  the  power  vested  in  the  President  to  see  that  the  reconstruc- 
tion acts  are  faithfully  executed? 


318  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

All  except  the  Secretary  of  War  answered  in  the  affirmative.  He  an- 
swered as  follows: 

Under  the  limitations  and  qualifications  expressed  in  my  general  view 
of  the  acts  of  Congress  under  consideration  just  read  to  the  President  and 
cabinet,  and  which  is  made  a  part  of  my  answer,  I  answer  in  the  affirmative. 

Q.  2.  Has  the  President  a  supervision  over  the  military  commanders, 
and  are  they  bound  to  perform  their  duties  in  conformity  with  his  instruc- 
tions? 

All  except  the  Secretary  of  War  answered  in  the  affirmative,  and  that 
the  President  has  the  same  supervision  and  right  of  instruction  as  he  has 
of  any  other  acts  of  Congress.     The  Secretary  of  War  answered  as  follows: 

The  President  has  as  commander-in-chief  a  supervision  over  the  mili- 
tary commanders  to  see  that  there  is  no  wilful  neglect  or  wanton  abuse  of 
authority  by  the  generals  commanding.  But  in  my  opinion  the  duties  as- 
signed to  the  military  commanders  in  the  act  to  provide  for  the  more  effi- 
cient government  of  the  rebel  States  and  its  supplement  are  specifically 
intrusted  to  them,  and  they  are  not  bound  to  perform  these  duties  in  con- 
formity to  his  (the  President's)  instructions  unless  they  are  in  accordance 
with  the  acts  of  Congress. 

Q.  3.  If  any  one  of  the  militarj'  commanders  assumes  and  exercises 
powers  not  conferred  by  these  acts,  or  any  other  acts  of  Congress,  and  the 
error  is  injurious  to  the  execution  of  these  laws  or  the  public  welfare,  is 
it  the  duty  of  the  President  (if  he  deem  it  proper  and  expedient)  to  cause 
the  error  to  be  corrected? 

All  answered  in  the  affirmative  except  the  Secretary  of  War,  who  an- 
swered as  follows: 

I  answer  that  if  the  supposed  wrongful  act  of  the  commanding  general 
be  a  wilful  neglect  of  duty  or  a  wanton  abuse  of  authority  that  would  ob- 
struct or  prevent  the  execution  of  the  acts  of  Congress  under  consideration, 
it  would  in  my  opinion  be  the  duty  of  the  President  to  correct  it. 

Q.  4.  Is  an  unlimited  power  conferred  on  the  military  commanders  to 
abolish,  modify,  control,  or  supersede  the  laws  of  the  State? 

All  answered  in  the  negative,  that  Congress  had  not  conferred  such 
unlimited  power,  except  the  Secretary  of  War,  who  answered  as  follows: 

I  answer  that  Congress  in  the  preamble  of  the  act  to  provide  for  the 
more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel  States  has  declared  among  other 
things,  that  no  legal  State  governments  exist  in  said  States,  and  has  made 
them  subject  to  military  authoritj%  and  given  command  in  each  district  to 
the  military  commander  assigned  by  the  President,  and  has  also  provided 
that  any  civil  government  which  may  exist  therein  shall  be  deemed  to  be 
provisional  only;  I  am  therefore  of  the  opinion  that  the  military  authority 
is  paramount,  and  if  the  general  commanding  shall  find  any  State  law  obstruct- 
ing, impeding,  or  inconsistent  with  the  due  execution  of  the  acts  of  Con- 
gress under  consideration,  he  has  unlimited  power  to  abolish,  modify,  con- 
trol, or  supersede  the  State  law. 

Q.  5.  Has  a  military  commander  the  power  to  order  the  established 
courts  of  the  States  or  of  the  United  States  exercising  criminal  jurisdiction, 
to  sentence  a  criminal  to  a  different  mode  or  degree  of  punishment  than  is 
provided  by  the  law  of  the  State  or  by  the  Federal  law? 


VICTORIOUS  OVER  JOHNSON  AND  HIS  ADVISERS         319 

All  answered  in  the  negative  except  the  Secretary  of  War,  who  answered 
as  follows: 

I  answer  that  I  have  no  knowledge  of  any  interference  or  authority 
having  been  assumed  by  any  district  commander  over  the  action  of  the 
Federal  courts;  nor  have  I  knowledge  of  an}'  such  cause  in  respect  to  a 
State  court,  as  is  assumed  by  the  question.  But  inasmuch  as  the  State  is 
subject  to  military  authority,  I  am  of  opinion  that  a  district  commander 
may  prohibit  the  execution  of  corporal  punishment  by  the  sentence  of  a 
Slate  court.  I  am  not  aware  of  any  case  in  which  he  has  authority  to  com- 
mand a  judge  to  impose  any  particular  sentence,  although  he  may  remove 
the  judge  for  good  cause. 

The  foregoing  questions  were  planned  to  unite  the  cabinet 
formally  in  favor  of  using  the  so-called  "State  governments"  in  the 
South  to  annul  and  overturn  the  acts  of  Congress — to  reestablish 
State  sovereignty  where  the  victory  of  the  Union  army  had  so  re- 
cently demolished  it. 

Stanton's  opposition  in  writing,  notwithstanding  the  unani- 
mous support  of  the  President's  covert  scheme  by  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  cabinet,  prevented  that  course  from  being  taken.  They 
felt  the  overwhelming  force  of  his  reasoning  and  dared  not  go 
against  it  as  intended.  The  instructions  prepared  by  Stanton  were 
reluctantly  issued. 

There  is  on  record  no  more  conspicuous  instance  of  one  reso- 
lute patriot  thwarting,  off-hand,  the  plans  of  the  President  and  his 
entire  administration.  All  of  Stanton's  contentions  have  been 
amply  confirmed  by  time,  Congresses,  and  courts ;  those  of  Johnson 
and  his  cabinet  have  been  condemned  and  rejected  as  unlawful  by 
the  same  great  tribunals — yet  how  unspeakably  unpleasant  was 
the  patriot's  task,  and  how  miserable  his  compensation ! 


CHAPTER  LVII. 
A  PATRIOTIC  CONSPIRACY  —  GRANT. 

The  exasperated  President  was  now  narrowed  down  to  the  al- 
ternative of  subsiding  or  attempting  to  seize  the  army  and  use  it 
to  subvert  the  will  of  Congress  and  nullify  the  reconstruction  acts 
of  March  2  and  March  25,  1867.  His  nature  was  such  that  he  could 
not  subside,  and,  as  Stanton  stood  resolutely  athwart  his  path,  he 
was  unable  to  gain  practical  control  of  the  army. 

Stanton  knew  that  the  military  criminals  of  the  war  period 
were  being  pardoned  and  appointed  to  office  by  scores ;  that  John- 
son had  asked  to  be  supplied  with  a  secret  telegraph  cipher  code  of 
his  own ;  that  female  pardon-brokers  were  obtaining  pardons  by  the 
thousands  for  influential  secessionists  at  prices  varying  from  twenty- 
five  dollars  to  six  thousand,  five  hundred  dollars  each ;  that  the 
President  was  acting  under  the  direct  guidance  of  Jeremiah  S.  Black, 
Reverdy  Johnson,  Montgomery  Blair,  Edgar  Cowan,  and  others 
who  pretended  to  hold  that  reconstruction  and  military  occupancy 
were  unconstitutional ;  that  former  leaders  of  the  Rebellion  were 
confidential  advisers  at  the  White  House;  and  that  all  executive  ef- 
fort was  directed  entirely  toward  reversing  the  fruits  of  the  war  in 
spite  of  laws,  courts,  and  Congress.  He  therefore  felt  convinced 
that  to  leave  his  post  at  such  a  moment,  no  matter  how  distasteful 
the  task  of  remaining,  would  betray  the  loyal  masses  of  the  nation 
and  encourage  the  operations  of  those  who  were  obstructing  and 
defying  the  Federal  authorities. 

Seeing  that  Stanton  would  not  resign,  and  that,  sustained  by 
Congress,  he  could  effectually  control  the  situation  so  long  as  he 
was  able  to  hold  possession  of  the  War  Office,  Johnson,  on  August 
5, 1867,  in  sheer  desperation,  sent  a  note  to  the  Secretary,  declaring: 
"Public  considerations  of  a  high  character  constrain  me  to  say  that 
your  resignation  will  be  accepted."  Within  five  minutes  Stanton 
replied  by  messenger: 


A  PATRIOTIC  CONSPIRACY— GRANT  321 

Sir: 

Your  note  of  this  day  has  been  received  stating  that  public  con- 
siderations of  a  high  character  constrain  you  to  say  that  my  resignation  will 
be  accepted. 

In  reply  I  have  the  honor  to  say  that  public  considerations  of  a  high 
character,  which  alone  have  induced  me  to  continue  at  the  head  of  this  De- 
partment, constrain  me  not  to  resign  the  office  of  secretary  of  war  before 
the  next  meeting  of  Congress. 

On  the  12th  Johnson  sent  a  letter  of  suspension  to  Stanton  and 
appointed  Grant  secretary  of  war  ad  interim.  Before  he  could  reply 
to  the  letter  of  suspension,  Stanton  received  a  note  from  Grant, 
after  which  he  sent  the  following  to  the  President: 

Sir: 

Your  note  has  been  received  informing  me  that  by  virtue  of  the 
powers  and  authority  invested  in  you  as  president  by  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States,  I  am  suspended  from  office  as  secretary  of  war, 
and  will  cease  to  exercise  any  and  all  functions  pertaining  to  the  same;  and 
also  directing  me  to  at  once  transfer  to  General  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  who  has 
this  day  been  authorized  and  empowered  to  act  as  secretary  of  war  ad  in- 
terim, all  records,  books,  papers,  and  other  public  property  now  in  my 
custody  and  charge. 

Under  my  sense  of  public  duty  I  am  compelled  to  deny  your  right, 
under  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  without  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate  and  without  legal  cause,  to  suspend  me  from  the 
office  of  secretary  of  war,  or  the  exercise  of  any  and  all  functions,  or  to 
transfer  to  any  person  the  records,  books,  papers,  and  public  property  in  my 
custody  as  secretary. 

But,  inasmuch  as  the  general  commanding  the  armies  of  the  United 
States  has  been  appointed  ad  interim,  and  has  notified  me  that  he  has  ac- 
cepted the  appointment,  I  have  no  alternative  but  to  submit  to  superior 
force. 

Of  course  Stanton  was  not  compelled  "to  submit  to  superior 
force,"  except  theoretically.  When  Johnson  first  proposed  to  make 
him  secretary  of  war  ad  interim,  Grant  went  direct  from  the  White 
House  to  Stanton  and  disclosed  the  executive  program,  explaining 
that  if  he  should  conclude  to  accept,  it  would  be  for  no  purpose 
whatever  beyond  that  of  preventing  the  War  Department  from  fal- 
ling into  the  hands  of  one  of  Johnson's  tools  who  would  use  it  for 
the  subversion  of  Congress. 

At  first  Grant  opposed  the  removal  of  Stanton,  arguing  against 
it  before  the  entire  cabinet — a  fact,  however,  that  was  unknown  to 
the  Secretary.     He  advised  the  President  and  the  cabinet  repeat- 


322  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

edly  that  the  loyal  portion  of  the  country  would  not  submit  to  such 
an  ill-advised  manoeuvre.  He  also  thrice  protested  in  writing,  his 
letter  of  August  1,  1867,  to  the  President,  being  as  follows : 

I  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  you  privately  on  the  subject  of  the 
conversation  we  had  this  morning,  feeling  as  I  do  the  great  danger  to  the 
welfare  of  the  country  should  you  carry  out  the  designs  then  expressed. 

First,  on  the  displacement  of  the  Secretary  of  War:  His  removal  can- 
not be  effected  against  his  will  without  the  consent  of  the  Senate.  It  is 
but  a  short  time  since  the  United  States  Senate  was  in  session,  and  why 
not  then  have  asked  his  removal,  if  it  was  so  desired? 

It  certainly  was  the  intention  of  the  legislative  branch  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  place  cabinet  ministers  beyond  the  power  of  executive  removal; 
and  it  is  pretty  well  understood  that  as  far  as  cabinet  ministers  are  affected 
by  the  tenure-of-office  bill,  it  was  intended  specially  to  protect  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  whom  the  country  felt  much  confidence  in. 

The  meaning  may  be  explained  by  an  astute  lawyer  [J.  S.  Black] 
but  common  sense  and  the  views  of  the  people  will  give  it  the  effect  in- 
tended by  its  framers. 

In  conclusion,  allow  me  to  say  as  a  friend  desiring  peace  and  quiet — 
the  welfare  of  the  whole  country  North  and  South — that  it  is,  in  my 
opinion,  more  than  the  loyal  people  of  this  country  (I  mean  those  who  sup- 
ported the  Government  during  the  great  Rebellion)  will  quietly  submit  to, 
to  see  the  man  of  all  others  whom  they  have  expressed  confidence  in,  re- 
moved. 

Notwithstanding  this  protest,  Grant  accepted.  In  fact,  when 
the  notice  of  his  appointment  was  handed  to  him  by  Colonel  W.  G. 
Moore,  Johnson's  secretary,  he  said :  "This  is  an  order  [it  was  in 
reality  not  an  "order"  but  only  an  appointment]  from  the  Presi- 
dent ;    I  do  not  see  how  I  can  disobey." 

However,  before  the  appointment  was  made  and  delivered  as 
stated,  Grant  met  the  President  with  his  cabinet  and  agreed,  or  in 
some  way  gave  them  to  understand  (five  of  them,  in  addition  to 
Johnson  himself,  so  stating  in  writing)  that  he  would  keep  Stanton 
out  of  the  War  Department  in  case  the  Senate  should  refuse  to  con- 
firm his  own  appointment  as  secretary  ad  interim,  and  thus  compel 
the  deposed  Secretary  either  to  submit  or  to  resort  to  the  courts 
for  reinstatement. 

Stanton  was  silent  and  manifestly  displeased  when  Grant  in- 
formed him  that  if  he  should  accept  it  would  be  simply  to  tie  the 
President's  hands  so  he  could  not  get  possession  of  the  War  Office. 
He  did  not  want  Grant  to  accept.  He  was  fearful  of  the  outcome. 
He  knew  that  Grant  could  not  take  his  own  place  before  and  had 
no  influence  with  Congress,  and  he  could  not  see  how  anything  was 


Henry  Stanbf.ry, 
Attorney-  General. 


Robert  Ould. 


Alexander  ^^ 
Randall, 
Postmaster- 
General. 


W.M.    M.    EVARTS, 

Attorney-  General. 


Caleb  Gushing, 
Attorney-  General. 


A  PATRIOTIC  CONSPIRACY— GRANT  323 

to  be  gained  by  the  change.  His  letter  to  the  President,  above 
quoted,  unquestionably  reflected  his  true  feelings  about  the  matter. 

Very  naturally  the  country  was  greatly  astonished  to  see 
Grant  enter  the  cabinet  which  was  struggling  to  nullify  his  own 
glorious  achievements  as  a  soldier.  The  people  could  not  know  of 
his  agreement  with  Stanton,  nor  see  that  what  seemed  to  be  a  mas- 
ter-stroke on  the  part  of  the  rampant  President  was  really  the  first 
step  toward  ultimate  defeat. 

Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  confidential  clerk  to  Stanton,  con- 
tinued in  that  capacity  with  Grant,  reporting  now  and  then  to  his 
former  chief  the  inconsequential  developments  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment.    He  says : 

Had  General  McClellan  or  General  Steedman  or  General  Ewing  or 
General  Cox  or  General  Sherman,  to  all  of  whom,  I  believe,  the  War  De- 
partment was  offered,  accepted,  Mr.  Stanton  would  have  resisted  because 
Congress,  by  the  tenure-of-office  law  of  March,  1867,  had  placed  him  above 
the  President;   but  he  trusted  Grant. 

When  Grant  accepted,  the  Democratic  and  copperhead  and  even  the 
Southern  press  took  him  under  its  wing  and  patted  and  petted  him  as  one  of 
them.  The  Richmond  Dispatch  declared  gleefully  that  the  President  now 
had  a  right  arm  and  the  Inquirer  observed  that  Johnson  did  not  appoint 
Grant  until  "satisfied  of  his  support."  Other  Southern  papers  commented 
in  the  same  vein,  and  with  unconcealed  satisfaction. 

However,  they  as  well  as  the  President  and  his  advisers,  as 
we  shall  soon  see,  were  doomed  to  the  keenest  disappointment ;  for 
Grant  kept  sacred  to  the  end  not  his  direct  promise  to  Johnson,  but 
his  implied  promise  to  Stanton. 


CHAPTER  LVIII. 
A  BRIEF  RESPITE  —  McCARDLE  CASE. 

At  the  time  of  his  suspension  Stanton  was  penniless*  so  far  as 
cash  was  concerned,  and  in  a  precarious  condition,  physically.  He 
said  to  General  J.  K.  Moorhead,  his  old  Pittsburg  friend :  "Gen- 
eral, I  have  no  money,  not  even  enough  to  pay  my  marketing  bills. 
I  wish  you  would  loan  three  thousand  dollars  to  me.  You  know  my 
Monongahela  coal  lands  are  ample  security." 

The  loan  was  promptly  made,  but  no  security  accepted ;  and 
with  these  funds  he  proceeded  at  once  to  the  shores  of  Cape  Cod 
with  his  family,  as  the  guest  of  Samuel  Hooper  at  fresh  and  beauti- 
ful Cotuit.  There,  wholly  relaxed,  like  one  set  free  from  prison,  he 
drank  in  the  ocean  air  and  seemed  to  live  a  year  in  every  day.  De- 
clining an  invitation  to  accept  the  hospitalities  of  the  City  of  Boston, 
tendered  on  August  22,  1867,  he  left  Cotuit  for  St.  Albans,  Vermont, 
to  visit  ex-Governor  and  Mrs.  Gregory  Smith.  Of  this  visit  the  hos- 
tess says : 

Mr.  Stanton's  enjoyment  of  the  surroundings  astonished  me.  The 
evening  of  his  arrival  he  immediately  went  out  of  the  house  and  ran  across 
the  garden  like  a  boy,  exclaiming:  "How  delightful  the  air  is.  I  can 
breathe!     See,  I  can  breathe!" 

His  terrible  enemy,  asthma,  retired  for  a  moment  and  the  weary  war- 
worn veteran  threw  aside  his  armor  and,  forgetting  the  nightmare  horrors 
from  which  he  had  so  recently  emerged,  drank  in  the  repose  and  recreation 
he  so  greatly  needed. 

All  the  sternness  and  severity  of  his  countenance  passed  away.  He 
joked  and  laughed  with  the  children;  rode  often  with  my  young  daughter  in 
a  single  carriage;  walked  alone  in  the  grove  and  garden  and  when,  late  in 
the  evening,  we  gathered  in  the  library,  discussed  various  subjects  or  told 
us  stories  of  the  war. 


*Says  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson:  "When  the  Secretary  left  the  Depart- 
ment to  General  Grant,  he  had  $4.76  as  a  balance  from  his  last  month's 
salary,  and  by  my  confidential  relations  with  him  I  knew  that  he  had  not 
another  dollar." 


A  BRIEF  RESPITE— McCARDLE  CASE  325 

He  remained  with  us  about  a  week,  submitting  graciously  to  a  large 
reception  given  in  his  honor  and  to  various  diversions  planned  for  his  en- 
joyment. After  he  returned  to  Washington  he  wrote  me  a  very  beautiful 
letter,  breathing  throughout  the  spirit  of  a  gentle,  tender,  and  sympathetic 
nature  that  would  astonish  those  who  knew  him  only  in  his  official  capacity. 
That  letter  I  cannot  find,  but  I  enclose  another  written  a  year  later,  briefer 
than  the  first,  yet  full  of  tenderness,  gratitude,  and  affection. 

The  letter  mentioned  is  as  follows: 

Washington  City,  August  31,  1868. 
My  Dear  Mrs.  Smith: 

As  the  anniversary  of  our  visit  to  St.  Albans  last  year  approaches,  my 
thoughts  often  turn  to  you  and  my  esteemed  friend,  your  husband,  and 
your  interesting  family  group,  and  the  strangers  then  but  no  longer  so 
who  extended  to  me,  as  your  friend,  so  kind  a  reception.  But  especially 
to  your  household  my  heart's  cherished  remembrance  is  chiefly  due  for  the 
many  acts  of  kindness  never  to  be  forgotten.  I  hope  you  and  the  Governor 
and  your  children  are  well.  You  all  live  in  our  thoughts,  and  even  our  own 
little  Bessie  talks  of  Anna  and  asks  why  she  does  not  write  her  a  letter. 

We  have  spent  at  home  a  very  pleasant  summer,  except  for  the  illness 
oi^  Mrs.  Stanton's  mother — that  broke  up  my  arrangements  for  a  trip  to  the 
Northwest,  including  Lake  Superior,  to  which  I  had  been  looking  forward 
with  much  anticipated  pleasure. 

I  beg  you  to  give  my  kindest  regards  to  the  Governor  and  all  your 
children,  especially  my  dear  Miss  Anna,  whose  health  I  regretted  to  hear 
was  not  good  in  the  spring.  I  indulge  the  hope  that  she  has  many  pleasant 
drives  such  as  I  enjoyed  in  her  company.  Please  tell  your  father  I  was 
disappointed  that  he  did  not  make  his  contemplated  visit  to  Washington, 
although  there  was  not  much  here  that  would  have  gratified  him  last 
winter.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dutcher  when  they 
were  here  and  beg  you  to  give  them  my  kind  regards  and  also  their  son, 
whom  I  met  at  Sunday  school. 

Mrs.  Stanton  has  just  come  in  from  a  morning  visit  and  learning  that  I 
am  writing  to  you,  insists  on  my  sending  you  her  love  with  kindest  regards 
to  the  Governor  and  her  friend  Anna  and  the  other  members  of  your 
family,  while  Bessie  sends  a  "heartful"  on  her  own  account. 

For  yourself,  dear  madam,  I  shall  always  cherish  sentiments  of  pro- 
found admiration  and  respect,  ever  remaining  most  sincerely. 

Your  friend, 

Mrs.  Governor  Smith.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

His  enjoyment  was  more  perfect  at  St.  Albans  because  he  was 
receiving  reports  from  his  faithful  clerk  that  Grant,  as  he  had 
agreed,  was  "doing  nothing  beyond  holding  the  fort,  driving  his 
horses,  and  visiting  with  his  cronies."     In  other  words,  Grant  was 


326  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

simply  occupying  the  position  pro  forma  to  prevent  President  John- 
son from  appointing  anybody  else  thereto  previous  to  the  meeting 
of  Congress,  and  Congress  supported  Stanton. 

In  the  meantime  hostilities  had  been  opened  from  other  direc- 
tions. Judge  Black  conceived  the  idea  of  inducing  the  State  of 
Georgia  to  appear  before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  and  ask 
for  a  writ  restraining  Stanton  and  the  commander  of  the  military 
district  of  which  that  commonwealth  formed  a  part  from  executing 
the  reconstruction  acts.  On  April  16,  1867,  Stanton  was  sub- 
poenaed to  answer  why  such  a  writ  should  not  issue.  The  question 
was  argued  on  its  merits  and  the  Court  held,  unanimously,  that  no 
such  writ  should  issue,*  the  Court  having  no  jurisdiction  over  "po- 
litical rights,  rights  of  State  sovereignty,  or  political  jurisdiction  of 
executive  officers." 

Almost  simultaneously  with  the  Georgia  case  a  petition  came 
up  from  Mississippi  also  asking  the  United  States  to  restrain  Presi- 
dent Johnson  or  any  other  officer  from  carrying  the  reconstruction 
acts  into  effect.  The  Court  did  not  receive  the  paper,  holding  that 
motions  and  writs  directed  against  the  President  could  not  be  enter- 
tained. However,  in  the  case  of  William  IMcCardle  of  Mississippi, 
the  President's  attorneys  found  a  clearer  field. 

McCardle,  in  his  newspaper,  opposed  reconstruction  and  libeled 
General  E.  O.  C.  Ord,  military  commander  of  the  district.  Ord 
arrested  McCardle,  who  sought  from  the  United  States  District 
Judge  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  for  his  release,  which  was  denied. 
An  appeal  was  taken  to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  at  the 
December  term,  1867,  when  the  entire  issue  of  reconstruction,  the 
right  of  the  nation  to  live,  was  put  upon  trial,  with  several  of  Presi- 
dent Johnson's  advisers  acting  also  as  McCardle's  lawyers. 

Stanton  alone  was  left  to  defend  the  loyal  people  and  their  Gov- 
ernment. To  do  this  he  engaged  Matthew  H.  Carpenter  of  Wis- 
consin, who,  taking  rooms  in  the  War  Department,  was  constantly 
advised  by  him  in  the  preparation  of  the  brief.f    At  the  conclusion 


•"See  Georgia  vs.  Stanton.  6  Wallace,  63. 


fin  a  letter  to  his  wife,  Carpenter  wrote:  "I  got  mj'  big  brief  into  the 
hands  of  the  Government  printer  this  morning.  Stanton  ordered  one 
thousand  to  be  printed.  I  went  by  his  direction  to  confer  with  William  M. 
Meredith,  who,  he  says,  is  the  biggest  lawyer  he  ever  knew.  I  read  my 
brief  to  him  and  he  said  he  had  not  a  single  suggestion  to  make;  that  it 
was  unanswerable  on  every  point.     That  pleased  Stanton  as  much  as  it  did 


A  BRIEF  RESPITE— McCARDLE  CASE  327 

of  the  argument,  to  which  he  was  a  grave  and  intensely  interested 
listener,  Stanton  threw  his  arms  about  Carpenter,  exclaiming  fer- 
vently :   "You  have  saved  us,  you  have  saved  us !" 

Wliile  the  case  was  under  advisement  by  the  justices,  the  pro- 
vision of  the  reconstruction  act  permitting  appeals  was  wiped  out 
by  Congress,  and  McCardle  was  remanded  to  prison.  That  was  the 
last  suit  of  the  kind  Stanton  was  called  upon  to  defend.  There- 
after Congress  was  supreme  in  reconstruction  matters,  and  carried 
them  out  almost  literally  along  the  lines  laid  down  in  the  project 
Stanton  conceived,  prepared,  and  handed  to  Lincoln  on  the  day  pre- 
ceding: the  assassination. 


me,  which  I  confess  was  considerable.  Stanton  sent  for  me  this  morning 
and  said:  'You  may  as  well  understand  that  you  are  in  for  the  whole  fight. 
Take  a  room  in  the  Department  and  be  at  home.'  He  then  delivered  to  me 
the  key  to  No.  29  and  a  check  for  $5,000  as  a  retainer." 


CHAPTER  LIX. 
ANSWERS  THE  PRESIDENT. 

On  the  12th  of  December,  1867,  President  Johnson  sent  a  mes- 
sage informing  the  Senate,  which  had  just  convened,  that  he  had 
suspended  Stanton  in  August  and  appointed  Grant  as  secretary  of 
war  ad  interim.  As  soon  as  this  message  was  printed,  Stanton  sent 
an  answer  to  the  Senate,  setting  the  first  precedent  in  our  history  of 
a  cabinet  officer  officially  controverting  the  chief  executive  before 
the  high  advisory  body  of  the  United  States  Senate. 

As  reasons  for  the  suspension,  Johnson  alleged  that  Stanton, 
when  advised  in  August  that  his  resignation  would  be  accepted, 
made  a  "defiant"  reply;  that  he  counseled  the  President  to  veto  the 
tenure-of-office  act  but,  when  the  bill  was  passed  over  the  Presi- 
dent's veto  and  became  a  law,  insisted  on  compliance  with  its  provis- 
ions ;  that  he  was  the  author  of  the  President's  policy  of  reconstruc- 
tion which  he  now  opposed  and  that  he  did  not  exculpate  the  Presi- 
dent from  responsibility  for  the  New  Orleans  riot  (of  July,  1867). 

Stanton's  answer  was  complete,  summoning  the  entire  record 
in  the  controversy  and  showing  that  the  President's  trail  was 
crooked  from  beginning  to  end.  It  is  not  printed  here  in  extenso 
because  the  preceding  and  following  chapters  bring  out  (in  connec- 
tion with  and  illustrated  by  the  peculiar  circumstances  surrounding 
them)  all  the  essential  facts  stated  by  Stanton. 

As  to  the  second  charge,  he  said  in  part : 

My  alleged  opposition  to  the  bill  regulating  the  tenure  of  civil  offices 
presents  the  singular  complaint  of  agreement  in  one  instance  with  Mr. 
Johnson.  I  did  oppose  the  tenure-of-office  bill;  so  did  he.  But  when  it 
became  a  law  by  a  two-thirds  vote  over  the  veto  objections,  it  was  his  duty 
and  mine,  as  executive  officers,  to  respect  and  obey  it. 

My  disapproval  of  the  measure  when  it  was  but  a  bill,  and  especially  to 
that  part  which  retained  members  of  the  cabinet,  was  no  secret  in  or  out  of 
the  cabinet.  When  the  bill  was  before  Congress,  I  advised  against  its  pas- 
sage. It  was  publicly  advocated  in  the  debates  in  Congress  as  necessary 
to  protect  the  Secretary  of  War  against  Mr.  Johnson's  hostility.  But  while 
thankful  for  the  confidence  this  evinced,  I  asked  no  protection;    Mr.  Bing- 


ANSWERS  THE  PRESIDENT  329 

ham  was  requested  to  ask  my  friends  to  have  the  provision  stricken  out; 
and  after  the  bill  passed,  I  hoped  it  would  be  reconsidered  and  fail  after 
veto  and  would  cheerfully  have  stated  my  objections  in  the  form  of  a  veto, 
had  time  and  health  permitted. 

As  Congress,  in  spite  of  Mr.  Johnson's  opposition  and  mine,  reserved 
the  right  of  final  judgment  on  the  removal  or  suspension  of  an  officer,  it 
was  no  misconduct  to  protest  against  the  violation  of  the  tenure  act  in  my 
person,  unless  it  be  wrong  to  conform  to  a  law  disapproved  before  its  pas- 
sage. This  seems  to  be  Mr.  Johnson's  view,  and  forms  an  aggravation  of 
my  oflfcnse. 

To  the  charge  that  he  now  opposed  the  reconstruction  policy 
of  which  he  himself  was  the  author,  Stanton's  answer  was  crushing. 
He  showed  how  Johnson,  stealing  and  slightly  patching  up  the 
preliminary  plan  prepared  by  Stanton  for  Lincoln  just  before  the 
assassination,  claimed  the  entire  project  as  his  own ;  and  then  when 
he  had  so  radically  changed  the  plan  that  the  country  rose  up  in 
indignant  protest  against  it,  he  cried  out  that  the  child  which  he  had 
previously  claimed  was  not  his  own  after  all,  but  Stanton's. 

He  showed  how  the  testimony  he  had  given  before  the  commit- 
tees of  Congress  that  investigated  reconstruction  had  been  falsified 
by  Johnson,  who  suppressed  the  part  declaring  "my  opinion  is  that 
the  whole  subject  of  reconstruction  *  *  *  jg  subject  to  the  con- 
trolling power  of  Congress,"  and  averred  anew : 

I  always  maintained  the  paramount  power  of  Congress  over  recon- 
struction, and  when  he  set  up  his  claim  to  absolute  and  exclusive  control, 
this  conflict  of  executive  power  against  the  authority  of  Congress  produced 
differences  between  Mr.  Johnson  and  the  Secretary  of  War,  who  stood  alone 
after  the  resignation  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Postmaster-General, 
and  Attorney-General,  against  Mr.  Johnson's  claim  of  supremacy. 

He  then  concluded: 

It  is  true  that  in  this  case  personal  considerations  would  have  led  me 
long  ago  to  sever  my  relations  with  Mr.  Johnson.  But  under  authority 
from  Congress,  and  Mr.  Lincoln's  order,  I  had  as  secretary  of  war  put  over 
a  million  of  men  into  the  field,  and  I  was  unwilling  to  abandon  the  victory 
they  had  won,  or  to  see  the  "lost  cause"  restored  over  the  graves  of  nearly 
four  hundred  thousand  soldiers,  or  to  witness  four  millions  of  freedmen 
subjected,  for  want  of  legal  protection,  to  outrages  against  their  lives,  per- 
sons, and  property,  and  their  race  in  danger  of  being  returned  to  some 
newly-invented  bondage. 

For  these  reasons  I  have  resolved  to  bear  all  and  suffer  all  while  con- 
tending against  such  results.  Hence  the  indirect  modes  of  displacing  me 
failed  of  their  purpose;  and  I  am  thankful  that,  standing  alone  as  I  did,  for 


330  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

twelve  months,  giving  the  President  faithfully  and  frankly  my  best  judgment 
on  the  grave  questions  in  agitation,  I  had  the  endurance  and  fortitude  to 
bear  with  tranquil  patience  the  modes  employed  to  induce  me  to  surrender 
my  post. 

If  I  have  rendered  any  service  to  the  country,  or  done  anything  to 
maintain  its  peace,  it  was  by  standing  resolutely  at  my  post  fearlessly  to 
give  Mr.  Johnson  good  advice.  Supported  by  the  highest  considerations 
of  public  duty,  the  tenacity  of  my  purpose  was  proof  against  all  indirect 
modes  to  displace  me. 

But  in  all  these  differences  of  opinion  respecting  Mr.  Johnson's  recon- 
struction policy,  during  a  period  of  two  years,  while  for  a  part  of  the  time 
he,  by  his  confession,  was  employing  every  mode  to  induce  my  resignation 
short  of  express  request,  it  is  not  complained  that  my  bearing  was  disre- 
spectful, or  other  than  was  due  from  the  head  of  a  Department  to  the  chief 
executive. 

Heretofore  I  have  foreborne  to  reply  to  accusations,  content  with  the 
consciousness  of  adhering  to  duty,  and  unwilling  to  seek  the  good  opinions 
of  men  otherwise  than  by  the  faithful  performance  of  the  tasks  devolved 
upon  me;  and  I  am  influenced  to  answer  these  charges,  not  by  their  weight, 
for  they  have  none,  but  in  deference  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

After  considering  the  letter  from  which  the  foregoing  is  ex- 
tracted, the  Senate  refused  to  recognize  the  suspension  of  Stanton 
and  the  appointment  of  Grant.  The  vote,  taken  late  in  the  evening, 
was  unanimous  among  the  Republican  senators.  John  W.  Forney, 
secretary  of  the  Senate,  drove  in  great  haste  to  inform  Stanton,  glee- 
fully, that  he  had  been  reinstated,  and  later  sent  messengers,  with 
the  official  information,  to  Grant  and  the  White  House. 

Next  morning  early,  before  Johnson  or  his  agents  could  act, 
Stanton  entered  the  War  Office  and  resumed  his  duties  as  secretary 
of  war. 


CHAPTER  LX. 
BESIEGED  BY  THE  PRESIDENT. 

While  Grant  was  sincere  in  his  secret  cooperation  with  Stanton 
to  thwart  Johnson,  he  was  piqued  at  the  unceremonious  way  in 
which  Stanton  resumed  possession  of  the  War  Department.  He  did 
not  at  the  moment  reahze  that  Stanton  must  secure  actual  physical 
possession  in  advance  of  any  agent  of  the  President,  or  be  placed  at 
a  decided  disadvantage. 

Johnson,  too,  was  exasperated — excessively  enraged — for  he 
had  been  defeated  by  Grant's  failure  to  keep  his  promise  to  hold 
the  War  Department  at  all  hazards.  He  consulted  J.  S.  Black  and 
other  lawyers  as  to  whether  he  could  use  the  army  to  forcibly  re- 
move Stanton,  and  asked  several  army  officers  whether  they  would 
obey  direct  orders  from  the  President  to  that  effect.  General  W. 
H.  Emory  (commanding  the  Department  at  Washington),  General 
Grant,  and  General  Sherman  replied  that  they  would  obey  no  such 
orders.  He  then  conceived  the  idea  of  creating  the  military  "De- 
partment of  the  Atlantic,"  with  headquarters  in  the  War  Ofifice,  and 
appointing  General  Sherman  to  be  its  commander  and  also  secre- 
tary of  war.  He  believed  that  Sherman's  personal  hostility  to  Stan- 
ton for  reversing  the  deplorable  Sherman-Johnston-Davis  terms  of 
surrender  was  great  enough  to  lead  him  to  use  force,  if  necessary, 
to  gain  and  hold  possession  of  the  W^ar  Office.  On  this  point  Major 
A.  E.  H.  Johnson  makes  some  interesting  disclosures : 

General  W.  T.  Sherman  now  appeared  and  joined  with  his  brother  John 
Sherman,  General  Grant,  Judge  J.  S.  Black,  the  Blairs,  and  a  band  of  cop- 
perheads encamped  about  the  White  House  in  the  efforts  to  oust  Stanton. 

Grant  and  Sherman,  after  consulting  the  President,  agreed  to  go  to- 
gether and  ask  Stanton  to  resign.  The  date  of  their  going  and  the  purpose 
were  advertised — probably  by  the  President  himself.  Sherman  did  not  sum- 
mon courage  to  keep  his  promise,  but  Grant  called,  though  he  did  not  find 
a  way  to  suggest  resignation.  Stanton  expected  and  was  ready  for  such 
a  suggestion  and  knew  precisely  how  to  meet  it.  Through  Walter  L.  Dunn, 
a  soldier  detailed  there  who  carefully  noted  all  callers  and  conversations,, 
he  knew  all  that  was  transpiring  at  the  White  House, 


332  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Stanton  appreciated  the  fact  that  Grant  was  destroying  his  strength 
and  usefulness,  encouraging  the  South  to  renew  efiforts  for  supremacy,  and 
tending  inevitably  toward  national  unrest  and  turmoil.  Grant,  too,  knew 
how  the  country.  North  and  South,  interpreted  his  partnership  with  John- 
son, for  he  read  it  everywhere,  and  it  was  told  to  him  repeatedly  by  the 
foremost  men  of  the  nation.  He  also  knew  of  Johnson's  determination  to 
resist  Congress,  to  seize  the  army  and  use  force  to  dispossess  Stanton,  and 
Stanton  knew  that  he  knew  it. 

History  no  longer  questions  the  character  of  Johnson's  designs.  That 
he  intended,  if  he  could  secure  the  cooperation  of  an  adequate  tool,  to 
forcibly  eject  Stanton  in  spite  of  the  law  and  the  adverse  vote  of  the  Senate, 
is  established  by  Grant  himself  as  well  as  by  General  Sherman's  "confiden- 
tial" letter  to  the  President,  in  which  he  says,  subsequently  declining  to 
enter  upon  the  desperate  scheme: 

"Your  personal  preferences,  as  expressed,  were  to  remove  Mr.  Stanton 
from  his  office  as  secretary  of  war  and  have  me  discharge  the  duty.  To 
effect  this  removal  two  modes  were  indicated:  to  simply  cause  him  to  quit 
the  War  Office  building  and  not  to  respect  him  as  secretary  of  war;  or  to 
remove  him  and  submit  my  name  to  the  Senate  for  confirmation." 

Grant  and  Sherman  were  both  too  much  afraid  of  the  law  and  of  Con- 
gress to  go  to  violent  extremes,  and  suddenly  disconnected  themselves  from 
Johnson's  revolutionary  plans. 

Thus  checkmated,  Johnson,  partially  in  writing  and  fully  by 
parol,  forbade  Grant  to  obey  orders  emanating  from  Stanton,  but 
the  Treasury  Department  continued  to  honor  the  Secretary's  requi- 
sitions and  the  military  establishment  to  obey  his  orders. 

Johnson  then  assailed  Grant  in  a  series  of  letters  of  great 
strength,  said  to  have  been  composed  by  his  attorney,  J.  S.  Black. 
One  of  them  is  given  a  place  here  because  it  confirms  the  statement 
made  previously  that  Stanton  did  not  leave  the  Department  in  Au- 
gust, 1867,  until  Grant  had  given  a  pledge  that  the  office  should  not, 
under  any  circumstances,  be  turned  over  to  Johnson  or  his  tools 
prior  to  the  meeting  of  Congress : 

I  deem  it  proper,  before  concluding  this  letter,  to  notice  some  of  the 
statements  contained  in  your  letter.  You  [Grant]  say  that  performance  of 
the  promises  alleged  to  have  been  made  by  you  to  the  President  "would 
have  involved  a  resistance  to  law  and  an  inconsistency  with  the  whole 
history  of  your  connection  with  the  suspension  of  Mr.  Stanton."  You  then 
state  that  you  had  fears  that  the  President  would,  on  the  removal  of  Mr. 
Stanton,  appoint  some  one  in  his  place  who  would  embarrass  the  army  in 
carrying  out  the  reconstruction  acts  and  add:  "It  was  to  prevent  such  an 
appointment  that  I  accepted  the  office  of  secretary  of  war  ad  interim  and  not  for 
the  purpose  of  enabling  you  to  get  rid  of  Mr.  Stanton  by  rny  withholding  it  fron\ 


BESIEGED  BY  THE  PRESIDENT  333 

him  in  opposition  to  the  law,  or  surrendering  it  to  one  who  would  do  so,  as 
the  statements  and  assumption  in  your  communication  plainly  indicate 
was  sought." 

First  of  all  you  here  admit,  that  from  the  very  beginning  of  "the  whole 
history"  of  your  conduct  in  connection  with  Mr.  Stanton's  suspension,  you 
intended  to  circumvent  the  President.  It  was  to  carry  out  that  intent  that 
you  accepted  the  appointment.  This  was  in  your  mind  at  the  time  of  ac- 
ceptance. It  was  not,  then,  in  obedience  to  the  order  of  your  superior,  as 
had  heretofore  been  supposed,  that  you  assumed  the  duties  of  the  office. 
Y'ou  knew  it  zvas  the  President's  purpose  to  prevent  Mr.  Stanton  from  resuming 
the  office  of  secretary  of  war;  and  you  intended  to  defeat  that  purpose.  You 
accepted  the  office,  not  in  the  interest  of  the  President  but  of  Mr.  Stanton! 
You  not  only  concealed  your  design  from  the  President,  but  induced  him  to 
suppose  that  you  would  carry  out  his  purpose  to  keep  Mr.  Stanton  out  of 
office  by  retaining  it  yourself  after  an  attempted  restoration  by  the  Senate, 
so  as  to  require  Mr.  Stanton  to  establish  his  right  by  judicial  decision. 

The  above  is  essentially  a  trtte  statement  of  the  case.     Grant 
promised  Stanton  that  he  would  not  permit  the  War  Office  to  fall . 
into  the  hands  of  Johnson,   and   he   kept   the   promise,   although 
obliged  to  deceive  the  President  and  his  cabinet  to  do  so.    He  did  it 
for  the  benefit  of  his  country,  North  and  South. 

Undaunted  in  his  purpose,  Johnson  now  adopted  a  more  start- 
ling course.  Having  worked  General  Lorenzo  Thomas  up  to  the 
point  of  promising  "to  obey  orders,"  he  restored  him  to  duty  as 
adjutant-general  on  February  13,  and  on  the  21st  issued  this  order 
to  Stanton : 

You  are  hereby  removed  from  the  office  as  Secretary  of  the  Department 
of  War,  and  your  functions  as  such  will  terminate  upon  the  reception  of 
this  communication.  You  will  transfer  to  Brevet-Major-General  Lorenzo 
Thomas,  adjutant-general  of  the  army,  who  has  this  day  been  authorized 
and  empowered  to  act  as  secretary  of  war  ad  interim,  all  records,  books, 
papers,  and  other  property  now  in  your  charge. 

Within  an  hour  Stanton  communicated  the  foregoing  to  the 
Senate  and  House  and  "commanded"  Thomas  "to  abstain  from  issu- 
ing any  orders  other  than  in  your  capacity  as  adjutant  of  the  army." 

Immediately  thereafter  Stanton  dictated  to  A.  S.  Worthington, 
who  copied  and  delivered  at  army  headquarters,  the  following  to 
General  Grant: 

As  secretary  of  war  I  command  you  to  arrest  and  confine  General  Lo- 
renzo Thomas,  adjutant-general,  for  disobedience  to  superior  authority  in 
refusing  to  obey  my  orders  as  secretary  of  war. 


334  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

"A  few  moments  later,"  says  Colonel  Worthington,  "General 
Grant  and  his  aides  clattered  into  the  hall.  Holding  the  order  of 
arrest  in  his  hand,  Grant  entered  the  Secretary's  room  and  a  private 
conference  of  perhaps  half  an  hour  followed.  The  nature  of  it  can 
only  be  surmised,  but  the  arrest  was  not  put  on  file  and  Grant  never 
after  that  was  friendly  to  the  President,"*  and  never  thereafter, 
Stanton  excepted,  spoke  to  a  member  of  the  cabinet. 

That  evening,  after  receiving  the  President's  order  to  "go  ahead 
and  take  possession  of  the  War  Office — find  the  necessary  means" — 
Thomas  attended  a  masquerade  ball,  announcing  as  he  waltzed 
about  that  he  should  take  possession  on  the  following  morning, 
"battering  down  the  doors"  if  he  found  them  locked  and  meeting 
"force  with  force"  if  Stanton  should  resist.  He  invited  his  friends 
to  "come  and  see  the  performance" ;  he  was  "going  to  kick  Stanton 
out."  Washington  was  in  high  excitement.  Thomas  expressly 
stated  that  he  was  "acting  on  the  advice  of  the  President,  who  had 
good  attorneys,"  and  could  call  on  Grant,  who  would  have  no  dis- 
cretion but  to  "obey  an  order  from  his  superior  officer,"  for  sufficient 
force  to  dislodge  Stanton,  and  that  "success  was  certain." 

Johnson  was  advised  at  this  moment,  says  Henry  Wilson,  that 
his  performance  might  result  in  impeachment.     "Impeach  and  be 

d d,"  he  roared  in  a  terrific  rage.     "Fll  put  Stanton  out  if  I  have 

to  be  tried  and  shot  for  it !" 

Stanton,  learning  these  threats,  sent  this  note  to  Senator  Ed- 
munds by  a  special  messenger  : 

I  am  informed  that  Adjutant-General  Thomas  is  boasting  that  he  in- 
tends to  take  possession  of  the  War  Office  at  9  to-morrow  morning.  If 
the  Senate  does  not  declare  its  opinion  of  the  law,  how  am  I  to  hold  pos- 
session? 

The  Senate,  acting  on  the  note  to  Senator  Edmunds,  by  unani- 
mous party  vote  refused  to  confirm  Thomas  and  also  "Resolved, 
that  under  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  the  President  has  no 
power  to  remove  the  Secretary  of  War  and  designate  any  other  of- 
ficer to  perform  the  duties  of  that  office  ad  interim." 

If  this  had  not  been  done,  Stanton  would  have  left  his  office 
the  next  day,  feeling  that  Congress  did  not  care  to  save  itself. 


*After  Grant  had  been  elected  president  he  refused  to  ride  to  the  inau- 
guration in  the  carriage  with  Johnson. 


BESIEGED  BY  THE  PRESIDENT  335 

At  10  o'clock  that  evening  (February  21)  copies  of  the  resolu- 
tion were  transmitted  to  Stanton,  Johnson,  and  Thomas.  There- 
upon threats  to  employ  the  army  to  "kick  Stanton  out" — John- 
son's exact  words — became  more  emphatic,  and  leading  Republi- 
cans gathered  in  the  War  Department,  where  the  Secretary  had 
already  fortified  himself,  to  aid  in  resisting  whatever  siege  might 
be  laid. 

After  full  discussion  among  those  present,  Stanton  advised  the 
arrest  of  Thomas  on  civil  process  and  the  impeachment  of  Johnson. 
The  complaint  against  the  former  was  signed  by  Stanton  at  2 
o'clock  next  morning  (the  22nd),  Judge  David  K.  Cartter  issuing  a 
warrant  thereon  which  was  promptly  served.  At  9  o'clock  Thomas 
was  not  in  the  Secretary's  office  but  before  the  court  to  answer  for 
his  conduct. 

Being  released  on  his  own  recognizance,*  he  returned  to  the 
President,  who  again  ordered  him  to  "go  ahead  and  take  possession 
of  the  War  Department,"  which  order  he  attempted  to  execute  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  he  was  under  arrest. 

The  efifort  was  ineffective.  He  could  not  secure  sufificient  help 
to  overcome  the  large  number  of  distinguished  citizens  and  of^cials 
by  whom  Stanton  was  surrounded. 


*Thomas  was  discharged  on  Stanton's  motion  after  articles  of  impeach- 
ment had  been  brought  in  against  his  superior,  the  President,  for  practically 
the  same  offense. 


CHAPTER  LXI. 
CONGRESS  AT  STANTON'S  FEET.* 

The  day  after  Stanton's  reinstatement,  a  large  delegation  of 
members  of  the  House,  headed  by  Speaker  Colfax,  called  to  ask  him 
not  to  resign.  This  remarkable  appeal  was  based  particularly  upon 
Stanton's  answer  to  the  President's  request  for  his  resignation, 
wherein  he  retorted :  "Public  considerations  of  a  high  character, 
which  alone  have  induced  me  to  continue  at  the  head  of  the  De- 
partment, constrain  me  not  to  resign  the  office  of  secretary  of  war 
before  the  next  meeting  of  Congress." 

This  indicated,  which  was  the  fact,  that  he  intended  to  resign 
after  Congress  had  convened ;  but  on  receiving  the  resolution  rein- 
stating him,  he  said :  "I  will  obey  the  mandate  of  the  Senate." 
Next  morning,  however,  the  city  and  Congress  were  full  of  unau- 
thorized talk  that  he  intended  to  resign,  as  he  was  satisfied  with  his 
vindication  by  the  Senate. 

This  was  what  Congress  did  not  want,  and  Speaker  Colfax, 
accompanied  by  half  a  hundred  representatives,  personally  pre- 
sented a  letter  signed  by  sixty  others  who  could  not  be  present,  re- 
questing Stanton  to  continue  as  secretary  of  war.  The  Speaker 
stated  that  "since  the  passage  of  the  tenure-of-office  law  Mr.  Stan- 
ton had  become  an  officer  of  the  people,  and  not  removable  without 
the  consent  of  the  Senate ;  that  he  ought  not  to  resign  unless  the 
people  demanded  it  and  that  the  people  wanted  and  expected  him  to 
retain  his  place." 

Mr.  Colfax  referred  to  him  as  "the  Thermopylae,  the  pass  of 
greatest  value  to  reconstruction  by  Congress ;  that  on  him  rested 
the  safety  of  reconstruction ;  that  the  people  and  the  loyal  press 
would  sustain  him  ;  that  the  great  Republican  party  was  at  his  back  ; 
that  Congress  was  ready  and  willing  to  make  any  laws  for  the  great- 
est security  and  power  of  the  commanders  on  whom  would  devolve 


♦Prepared  from  notes  supplied  entirely  by  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  who 
took  them  on  the  spot. 


CONGRESS  AT  STANTON'S  FEET  337 

reconstruction ;  that  he  carried  his  colors  open  and  represented 
more  than  any  man  of  the  day  the  policy  of  Lincoln  and  the  spirit 
of  the  people  who  crushed  the  great  Rebellion,  and  who  were  de- 
termined to  see  that  victory  stand  to  give  peace  to  the  Republic." 

Mr.  Moorhead  of  Pittsburg  said  there  was  now  a  "complete 
rupture  between  the  legislative  and  executive  departnaents  of  the 
Government;  that  there  was  no  one  left  on  whom  Congress  could 
rely  to  execute  its  laws  but  the  Secretary  of  War;  that  the  Presi- 
dent was  aiming  to  get  control  of  the  army ;  that  to  defeat  that  aim 
the  public  insisted  that  the  Secretary  cooperate  with  Congress ;  that 
in  that  struggle  the  Secretary  would  have  the  support  of  General 
Grant ;  that  for  this  he  had  come  to  ask  Stanton  to  stay." 

Mr.  Kelley  of  Philadelphia  said  "the  occasion  that  had  brought 
them  to  the  War  Department  was  full  of  solemn  forebodings ;  and 
for  the  Secretary  to  leave  the  post  the  Senate  had  put  him  in  would 
mean  turning  the  army  over  to  the  man  who  was  plotting  ways  to 
defeat  the  reconstruction  laws  Congress  had  made  and  to  use  the 
military  to  undo  what  our  great  volunteer  armies  had  gained." 

Mr.  Van  Horn  said  that  "the  Secretary's  duties  were  severe  and 
exacting,  the  hours  anxious  and  weary;  but  he  had  won  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  the  people,  who  demanded  that  he  make  whatever 
further  sacrifices  might  be  required  and  stand  by  Congress  in  its 
bitter  struggle  with  the  President." 

Mr.  Ferry  said  that  "having  been  the  mainstay  in  war,  Mr. 
Stanton  was  now  needed  more  than  before  in  his  Department ;  that, 
to  rule  or  ruin,  the  President  had  the  hunter's  zeal  for  the  chase, 
which  grows  from  season  to  season,  and  that  if  there  ever  was  a 
time  when  the  statesmanship  and  force  of  the  Secretary  were  needed 
to  meet  the  impending  destruction,  it  had  come,  and  he  must  not 
resign." 

'Mr.  Delano  said  that  "Congress  had  made  a  law  and  the  Senate 
just  reenacted  it,  making  the  Secretary  of  War  above  the  President; 
that  it  was  the  intention  of  Congress  that  he  should  be  the  sole 
power  of  the  War  Department;  that  rumors  of  the  wild  intentions 
of  the  President  were  flying  thick  and  fast  and  that  they  had  come 
to  ask  him  not  to  give  up  to  this  power ;  that  with  Congress  holding 
the  Department  through  him  and  the  army  through  Grant,  the 
rage  of  the  President  would  undo  himself  instead  of  the  country." 
R.  W.  Clarke,  of  Ohio,  said  that,  "as  in  the  dark  days  the 
nation  looked  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  so  now  Congress  looked  to 


338  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

him ;  that  as  he  had  served  Lincoln  with  heroic  power,  so  now  he 
must  serve  Congress,  and  save  the  country." 

Mr.  Dodge  said  "the  President  was  under  the  delusion  that  the 
Senate  was  disgusted  because  the  Secretary  of  War  was  staying  in 
a  cabinet  where  he  was  not  wanted,  and  that  Trumbull  and  Fessen- 
den  would  vote  against  his  reinstatement.  On  the  contrary  Fessen- 
den  made  the  most  earnest  and  able  speech  for  the  greatest  war  min- 
ister ever  upon  the  earth,  as  the  link  which  was  destined  to  bind  into 
continuity  a  Government  that  was  so  far  imperiled  to  hang  upon 
a  single  thread  of  loyalty  and  courage ;  and  that  the  Secretary  was 
the  most  promising  victim  of  the  hate  and  venom  which  character- 
ii^ed  the  official  acts  of  the  renegade  at  the  White  House  toward 
loyal  officers  and  people  throughout  the  land.  Mr.  Stanton  is  not 
asked  to  stay  as  a  member  of  that  man's  cabinet,  but  as  a  para- 
mount member  of  a  Congress  to  which  he  could  come  for  any  law  or 
authority  he  wanted ;  that  he  had  been  suspended  because  he  was 
true  to  the  policy  of  Congress  and  the  country,  and  for  such  fidelity 
Congress  had  given  him  a  world-wide  reputation  which  would  sur- 
vive the  treachery  of  the  President ;  that  for  this  they  had  come  to 
ask  him  to  stay;  that  never  before  in  the  history  of  the  Government 
had  such  a  delegation  with  such  a  letter  called  upon  any  servant  of 
the  Government  to  ask  him  not  to  resign." 

One  member  said  he  "did  not  come  to  offer  congratulations,  but 
Oil  more  important  business ;  that  he  did  not  believe  that  Mr.  Stan- 
ton could  have  received  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Republican  sena- 
tors if  they  had  entertained  a  suspicion  that  he  would  resign." 

Mr.  Lawrence  said  "it  seemed  that  the  crucial  hour  of  the  Gov- 
ernment had  been  transferred  from  the  field  of  war ;  that  the  enemy 
at  the  South  had  joined  hands  with  the  enemy  at  the  North — had 
flanked  our  armies  and  was  on  the  way  to  seize  Congress,  but  that, 
fortunately,  Congress  still  had  its  great  captain  who  had  just  been 
given  a  new  commission." 

Mr.  Stanton's  short,  simple  answer  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
speeches,  "I  will  not  resign,"  was  hailed  with  enthusiastic  clapping 
of  hands  and  expressions  of  supreme  gladness.  The  great  delega- 
tion withdrew,  happy  in  the  thought  that  the  country  was  secure. 

The  picture  of  Congress  at  the  feet  of  a  single  cabinet  minister 
to  save  themselves  from  a  rampant  president  is  indeed  interesting 
and  remarkable ! 


CONGRESS  AT  STANTON'S  FEET  339 

In  addition  to  the  demands  of  the  loyal  press  of  the  nation,  and 
of  the  great  congressional  delegation,  the  unexpected  turn  which 
had  occurred  in  the  battle  with  the  President  was  potent  in  deter- 
mining Stanton  to  stay.  The  whole  controversy  had  changed.  The 
Secretary  was  momentarily  in  the  background  and  Grant,  as  the 
only  way  out  of  his  fearful  broil  with  the  President,  was  now  urging 
Stanton  to  stay  in  the  office  from  which,  by  the  aid  of  the  President, 
he  had  so  recently  been  trying  to  oust  him  ! 

The  following  extraordinary  letter  to  General  P.  H.  Sheridan, 
commander  of  the  military  district  of  Texas,  shows  how  completely 
Grant  changed  front  and  how  oracular  were  Stanton's  words  in  the 
Ashley  letter : 

I  regret  to  say  that  since  the  unfortunate  difference  between  the  Presi- 
dent and  Congress  the  former  becomes  more  violent  with  the  opposition  he 
meets  with,  until  now  but  few  people  who  were  loyal  to  the  Government 
during  the  Rebellion  seem  to  have  any  influence  with  him.  None  have  unless 
they  join  in  the  crusade  against  Congress,  and  declare  their  acts,  the  prin- 
cipal ones,  illegal;  and  indeed  I  much  fear  that  we  are  fast  approaching  the 
time  when  he  will  want  to  declare  that  body  itself  illegal,  unconstitutional, 
and  revolutionary. 

Commanders  in  Southern  States  will  take  great  care  to  see,  if  a  crisis 
does  come,  that  no  armed  headway  can  be  made  against  the  Union. 

For  this  reason  it  will  be  very  desirable  that  Texas  should  have 
no  reasonable  excuse  for  calling  out  the  militia  authorized  by  their  legis- 
lature.    Indeed,  it  should  be  prevented. 

I  write  this  in  strict  confidence,  but  to  let  you  know  how  matters  stand 
in  my  opinion,  so  that  you  may  square  your  official  action  accordingly. 

I  gave  orders  quietly  two  or  three  weeks  since  for  the  removal  of  all 
arms  in  store  in  the  Southern  States  to  Northern  arsenals.  I  wish  you 
would  see  that  those  from  Baton  Rouge  and  other  places  within  your  com- 
mand are  being  moved  rapidly  by  the  ordnance  officers  having  the  matter 
in  charge. 

Thus,  step  by  step  does  Stanton's  perfect  vindication  irresist- 
ibly unfold  itself ;  but  how  miserably  do  the  historians  of  other  lead- 
ing actors  in  that  tragic  field  of  chaos  submerge  his  heroic  services 
in  order  to  mend  the  tortuous  and  unworthy  records  with  which 
they  are  compelled  to  deal ! 


CHAPTER  LXII. 

IMPEACHMENT  FAILS  —  STANTON  RETIRES,  OUT 

OF  FUNDS. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  Stanton's  communication  an- 
nouncing Johnson's  illegal  appointment  of  Thomas  had  been  re- 
ferred, without  debate,  to  the  Committee  on  Reconstruction,  which, 
on  the  following  day  (February  22)  reported  a  resolution  that  Presi- 
dent Johnson  be  impeached.  Next  day  (Sunday)  before  midnight 
Stanton  dictated  to  A.  S.  Worthington,  now  a  distinguished  at- 
torney of  Washington,  ten  articles  of  impeachment  and  on  Monday, 
the  24th,  the  House  adopted  a  resolution,  126  to  47,  to  apprise  the 
Senate  that  the  articles  upon  which  the  trial  of  impeachment  must 
take  place  would  be  brought  in  at  once. 

The  managers  added  article  XL,  which  is  a  condensed  summary 
of  the  ten  articles  prepared  by  Stanton.  The  whole  was  agreed  to 
on  March  3  and  on  the  5th  was  presented  by  the  House  to  the 
Senate  as  the  grand  inquest  of  the  nation.  Chief  Justice  Chase  pre- 
siding. 

The  articles  charged  the  President  with  violating  the  tenure-of- 
civil-oflfice  law  of  March  2,  1867,  in  attempting  to  eject  Edwin  M. 
Stanton  from  the  office  of  secretary  of  war  without  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate  and  while  that  body  was  in  session ;  in  trea- 
sonable utterances  against  Congress  by  advising  the  masses  in  pub- 
lic speeches  that  it  was  "no  Congress"  and  promising,  with  the  help 
of  "you  soldiers  and  people,"  to  "kick  them  out" ;  in  uttering  pub- 
licly language  "indecent  and  unbecoming"  to  the  high  office  of 
president,  etc.,  etc. 

The  trial  was  conducted  for  the  President  by  William  M. 
Evarts,  Benjamin  R.  Curtis,  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  Thomas  A.  R.  Nel- 
son, and  Henry  Stanbery  ;*  and  on  behalf  of  the  House — John  A. 
Bingham,  chairman  of  the  managers — largely  by  Benjamin  F.  But- 
ler, and  was  very  ably  managed.    It  was  concluded  on  May  26  by  a 


*Mr.  Stanbery  resigned  from  the  cabinet  in  order  to  defend  Johnson. 


I 


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Vote  uf  Senatk  on  Impeachment. 


IMPEACHMENT  FAILS-STANTON  RETIRES  341 

vote  of  35  to  19  that  respondent  was  "guilty  as  charged."  As  two- 
thirds  are  required  to  impeach — in  this  instance  36  to  18— Johnson 
escaped  by  a  single  vote ! 

Prior  to  casting  the  vote,  failure  to  impeach  was  not  supposed 
to  be  possible,  as  the  Senate  was  Republican  almost  four  to  one.  So 
certain  was  the  country  that  Johnson  would  be  convicted  and  de- 
posed and  that  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  as  president  of  the  Senate,  would 
succeed  him  in  the  White  House,  that  a  new  cabinet  was  informally 
selected,  with  Stanton  as  secretary  of  the  treasury. 

This  movement,  which  became  formal  in  Pennsylvania,  led 
Stanton  to  write  this  characteristic  letter  : 

War  Department,  April  14,  1868. 
Dear  Sir: 

Perceiving  in  this  morning's  Chronicle  that  a  communication  has  been 
signed  by  the  Governor  of  your  State,  the  Republican  members  of  the  legis- 
lature, and  other  persons,  asking  your  recommendation  for  my  transfer 
upon  a  certain  contingency  [Johnson's  conviction]  to  the  head  of  the  Treas- 
ury Department,  I  hasten  to  request  earnestly  that  no  such  recommendation 
be  made. 

Enough  of  my  life  has  been  devoted  to  public  duties. 

No  consideration  can  induce  me  to  assume  those  of  the  Treasury  De- 
partment, or  continue  in  the  War  Department  longer  than  may  be  required 
for  the  appointment  and  confirmation  of  my  successor. 

Yours  truly, 

The  Honorable  Simon  Cameron.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

Nine  Republicans  voted  with  the  Democrats  against  impeach- 
ment thus:  Lyman  Trumbull  of  Illinois,  E.  G.  Ross  of  Kansas,  J 
W.  Grimes  of  Iowa,  J.  S.  Fowler  (born  in  Steubenville)  and  D.  T. 
Patterson  of  Tennessee,  Wm.  Pitt  Fessenden  of  Maine,  James 
Dixon  of  Connecticut,  P.  G.  Van  Winkle  of  West  Virginia,  and 
J.  B.  Henderson  of  Missouri. 

Senator  Patterson  was  the  President's  son-in-law,  and  could 
hardly  escape  giving  a  negative  vote.  The  legislature  of  Missouri 
formally  instructed  Henderson  to  vote  for  impeachment,  but  he 
disobeyed  ;  Lyman  Trumbull  (standing  counter  to  public  opnion  in 
his  State)  and  William  P.  Fessenden  were  alleged  to  personally 
dislike  Stanton,  and  one  vote  was  secured  through  a  famous  woman 
artist  and  sculptor. 

Other  votes  were  procured  by  influences  not  on   record,*  al- 


*"Money  without  limit  was  provided  to  carry  on  the  President's  side  of 
the  contest.     Over  $40,000  went  to  newspapers,  and  his  numerous  lawyers 


343  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

though  James  W.  Grimes  of  Iowa  refused  to  vote  against  impeach- 
ment until  he  had  received  from  President  Johnson  himself  a  distinct 
promise  that,  in  case  of  acquittal,  there  should  be  no  further  perse- 
cution of  Stanton  or  his  friends.  On  this  point  John  Francis  Coyle, 
editor  of  the  National  Intelligencer,  Johnson's  organ,  makes  the  fol- 
lowing disclosures : 

I  assured  Senator  Grimes,  and  so  did  others  for  the  President,  that  in 
case  of  failure  to  impeach  there  should  be  no  further  persecution  of  Sec- 
retary Stanton,  but  he  would  accept  the  word  of  no  one  but  Johnson  himself. 
The  President  was  really  in  desperate  circumstances.  There  was  a  national 
majority  sufficient  to  impeach,  and  he  was  willing  to  make  any  promise  that 
would  save  him.  I  arranged  a  dinner  party  at  my  residence  at  which  Presi- 
dent Johnson  and  Senator  Grimes  were  the  principal  guests.  At  the  end  of 
the  wine  and  walnuts  the  other  guests  withdrew  and  the  promise  necessary 
to  secure  the  vote  of  Senator  Grimes  was  given,  and  Johnson  escaped  by  the 
single  vote  thus  obtained!  He  kept  his  promise  to  Senator  Grimes  faith- 
fully, never  thereafter  uttering  a  word  against  or  derogatory  of  Mr.  Stanton. 

During  the  progress  of  the  great  trial  renewed  attempts  were 
made  to  eject  Stanton  or  deprive  him  of  the  use  of  the  machinery  of 
his  office.  The  postmaster  of  Washington  was  instructed  to  deliver 
the  mail  of  the  War  Department  to  General  Lorenzo  Thomas  per- 
sonally, but  promptly  refused  to  do  so.  Then  Grant  was  requested 
to  issue  an  order,  as  general-in-chief,  to  the  heads  of  Departments 
to  turn  over  to  him  all  letters,  records,  papers,  and  documents  in 
and  coming  into  their  possession,  but  he,  too,  refused  to  obey.  Fin- 
ally, to  prevent  honoring  Stanton's  requisitions,  Johnson  attempted 
to  have  Edmund  Cooper,  his  friend  and  former  private  secretary, 
made  assistant-secretary  of  the  treasury,  although  there  was  no 
vacancy.  The  act  of  March  2,  1867,  gave  one  assistant  secretary  of 
the  treasury  authority  to  sign  warrants  for  the  payment  of  money, 
and  Cooper  agreed,  if  appointed,  to  honor  the  requisitions  and  pay 
the  War  Department  bills  of  Thomas  but  not  those  of  Stanton. 

Thomas  regularly  went  through  the  motions  of  meeting  with 
the  cabinet  as  "secretary  of  war."  He  did  not,  however,  dare  to  put 
forth  an  order,  sign  a  paper,  draw  salary,  or  issue  a  requisition.  All 
of  these  matters  were  attended  to  by  Stanton,  whose  power  and  au- 


were  richly  compensated.  The  funds  came  largely  from  the  New  York, 
New  Orleans,  Baltimore,  and  Philadelphia  custom  houses,"  says  John  Fran- 
cis Coyle,  editor  of  Johnson's  organ,  the  National  Intelligencer. 


IMPEACHMENT  FAILS— STANTON   RETIRES  343 

thority  were  fully  recognized  by  Grant,  Congress,  and  all  the  civil 
and  military  officers  except  the  President.* 

Stanton  was  overwhelmed  by  the  result  of  the  impeachment 
trial.  He  felt  that  the  sacrifices  he  had  made,  if  not  in  vain,  were 
certainly  not  bearing  proper  fruit,  and  that  failure  to  convict  John- 
son was  practically  conviction  of  himself. 

Therefore,  at  3  o'clock  of  May  26,  1868,  the  day  on  which 
Chief  Justice  Chase  entered  up  the  verdict  of  "Not  Guilty,"  weak 
from  long  physical  suffering  and  exhausted  by  over  six  years  of 
more  arduous  and  responsible  labors  than  were  ever  accomplished 
by  any  other  official  on  this  continent,  he  sent  his  son  Edwin  to  in- 
struct General  Townsend  to  take  charge  and  possession  of  every- 
thing in  the  War  Office  and  hold  it  subject  to  appropriate  action  of 
the  Senate.  He  also  gave  to  Townsend  the  following  letter  to  be 
handed  afterwards  to  President  Johnson  "relinquishing"  his  office : 

Sir: 

The  resolution  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  of  February  21 
last,  declaring  that  the  President  has  no  power  to  remove  the  secretary  of 
war  and  designate  any  other  person  to  perform  the  duties  of  that  position 
ad  interim,  having  this  day  failed  to  be  supported  by  two-thirds  of  the  sena- 
tors present  and  voting  on  the  articles  of  impeachment  presented  against 
you  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  I  have  relinquished  charge  of  the  War 
Department,  and  have  left  the  same  and  the  books,  archives,  papers,  and 
property  heretofore  in  my  custody  as  secretary  of  war  in  care  of  Brevet- 
Major-General  Townsend,  the  senior  adjutant-general,  subject  to  your  di- 
rection. 

Next  morning  General  Thomas  attempted  to  secure  possession 
of  the  War  Office  keys  but  Townsend,  on  Stanton's  advice,  refused 
to  give  them  up. 

On  the  29th  General  John  M.  Schofield,  who,  as  the  Senate  de- 
clared, had  been  illegally  appointed  on  April  23,  was  confirmed  as 
secretary  of  war  because  Stanton  had  "relinquished"'  the  office,  and 
to  him  Townsend  delivered  the  keys.  On  June  1  the  Senate  passed 
the  following  resolution,  offered  by  George  F.  Edmunds,  which  was 
concurred  in  by  the  House  on  the  19th  by  a  vote  of  102  to  25  if 


*Says  General  E.  D.  Townsend,  who  was  acting  adjutant-general  during 
this  trying  period:  "For  some  time  President  Johnson  utterly  ignored  Mr. 
Stanton  and  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  General  Grant.  I  stood  on  a 
sort  of  neutral  ground  in  this  triangle,  receiving  and  executing  the  orders 
of  all  three  without  immediate  reference  to  any." 


fThe  following  senators  voted  nay  on  the  resolution  of  thanks:   C.   R. 
Buckalew;,  Pennsylvania;  J.  R.  Doolittle,  Wisconsin;  J.  S.  Fowler,  Tennes- 


344  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Resolved  BY  THE  Senate  (The  House  of  Representatives  concurring), 
That  the  thanks  of  Congress  are  due,  and  are  hereby  tendered,  to  the 
Honorable  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  for  the  great  ability,  purity,  and  fidelity  to 
the  cause  of  the  country  with  which  he  has  discharged  the  duties  of  secre- 
tary of  war,  as  well  amid  the  open  dangers  of  a  great  Rebellion  as  at  a  late 
period  when  assailed  by  the  opposition  inspired  by  hostility  to  the  measures 
of  justice  and  pacification  provided  by  Congress  for  the  restoration  of  a  real 
and  permanent  peace. 

At  the  moment  of  relinquishing  his  office,  Stanton's  health  and 
finances  were  in  a  more  feeble  condition  than  ever.  For  some  time 
he  was  hardly  able  to  leave  his  room.  While  thus  prostrated  he 
sent  his  son  to  the  great  banking  house  of  Riggs  and  Company,  in 
Washington,  to  borrow  five  hundred  dollars  on  his  promissory  note, 
and  the  loan  was  refused!  He  was  much  distressed  and  humiliated 
by  this  refusal,  his  first  banking  in  Washington  having  been  done 
through,  and  for  years  his  deposits  and  those  of  Mrs.  Stanton  hav- 
ing been  with,  Riggs  and  Company. 

Dr.  John  B.  Blake  of  the  National  Metropolitan  Bank,  being  ad- 
vised of  the  incident,  offered  to  discount  Stanton's  note  for  five  hun- 
dred dollars  or  any  other  sum,  wrhich  ofTer  was  gratefully  accepted. 


see;  J.  B.  Henderson,  Missouri;  T.  A.  Hendricks,  Indiana;  Reverdy  John- 
son, Maryland;  T.  C.  McCreary,  Kentucky;  D.  S.  Norton,  Minnesota;  D.  T. 
Patterson,  Tennessee;  E.  G.  Ross,  Kansas;  George  Vickers,  Maryland. 


CHAPTER  LXIII. 
WAR  OFFICE  SECRETS  AND  EPISODES. 

The  furniture  of  Stanton's  office  was  of  the  simplest  kind.  The 
only  luxury  was  an  old  haircloth  lounge,  from  which  the  covering 
was  half  worn.  On  this,  during  great  battles  or  important  military 
manoeuvres,  when  he  dared  not  be  away  from  the  telegraph  instru- 
ment day  or  night,  he  secured  a  little  rest.  Here,  too,  during  many 
an  anxious  night,  Lincoln  stretched  himself  while  reading  des- 
patches and  consulting  with  the  Secretary. 

The  chairman  and  members  of  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct 
of  the  War  visited  Stanton  every  morning  and  other  leading  men  of 
both  Houses  were  in  almost  daily  consultation  concerning  needed 
or  pending  legislation.  In  fact,  during  the  war,  except  when  ap- 
pointments or  favors  were  sought,  representatives  and  others  con- 
sulted more  with  Stanton  than  with  the  remainder  of  the  administra- 
tion combined. 

Carpenter,  the  artist  who  spent  six  months  at  his  profession  in 
the  White  House,  says  that  when  Lincoln  was  found  alone  signing 
papers  without  reading  them,  he  observed :  "You  see  I  do  not  read 
these  documents.  Stanton  has  signed  them,  so  I  know  they  are  all 
right." 

W.  R.  Allison,  a  veteran  editor  of  Steubenville,  Ohio,  recalls 
that  at  one  time  Government  ambulance  wagons  stored  in  Washing- 
ton for  service  at  the  close  of  battles  to  remove  the  dead  and  bring 
away  the  wounded,  got  into  private  use.  Stanton,  observing  one  on 
the  street,  inquired  how  it  came  there.  On  being  told  that  it  was  by 
Lincoln's  permission,  he  instantly  commanded  a  police  captain : 
"These  wagons  may  be  telegraphed  for  at  any  moment.  Warn 
every  person  in  charge  of  one  to  return  it  within  an  hour,  and  if  he 
refuses  or  fails,  arrest  him."  Mr.  Allison,  who  was  a  part  of  the  ad- 
ministration at  the  time,  says :  "Stanton  frequently  issued  similar 
orders,  but  there  was  never  a  protest  or  complaint  from  the  White 
House;  Lincoln  knew  Stanton  was  right." 


346  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

General  O.  O.  Howard  states : 

My  relations  with  Secretary  Stanton  were  very  cordial  and  they  re- 
mained so  during  all  my  perplexing  work  for  freedmen  and  refugees.  Only 
once  do  I  remember  anything  like  a  difficulty  and  that  concerned  my  annual 
report.  It  was  in  print.  He  seized  it  and  said  to  me  in  his  roughest  man- 
ner: "Sir,  I  told  you  not  to  print  your  report  before  I  had  read  it."  I 
said  stiffly,  in  his  own  tone:  "Sir,  I  did  not  understand  you.  You  di- 
rected me  not  to  publish  my  report;  and  I  have  not.  I  have  simply  put  it  in 
print  with  my  own  press  for  your  convenience." 

He  was  standing.  He  quickly  sat  down,  took  oflF  his  official  spectacles, 
and  in  his  most  affable  manner  said:  "Why,  General  Howard,  I  thought  you 
understood  me  better.  Take  a  seat,  sir,  while  I  review  your  report."  He 
then  read  it  carefully  but  rapidly.  On  completing  it  he  gave  it  back  with 
warm  thanks  for  its  explicit  and  satisfactory  character. 

He  was  accustomed  to  tell  me  that  certain  men  could  not  be  trusted. 
When  one  of  my  agents  suddenly  betrayed  me,  he  laughed  and  said:  "How 
could  you  have  been  deceived  in  that  man?  I  knew  him  by  the  company  he 
was  keeping."     He  watched  and  studied  everybody. 

In  1864  Representative  Philitus  Sawyer  of  Wisconsin  was  a 
delegate  to  the  Republican  national  convention  at  Baltimore.  The 
day  before  the  convention  met  he  applied  to  Stanton  for  the  dis- 
charge of  young  Follett  of  Green  Bay.  "No,"  said  Stanton,  'T  can't 
do  it."  Mr.  Sawyer  explained  that  the  case  was  one  of  extreme 
merit.  "I  know  it,"  replied  Stanton,  "but  there  are  thousands  of 
such  cases.  I  am  moving  heaven  and  earth  in  order  to  give  Grant 
the  men  he  wants.     Grant's  case  is  one  of  extreme  merit,  too." 

Mr.  Sawyer  went  thence  to  Lincoln,  who  wrote  on  Follett's  ap- 
plication:  "Let  the  within  discharge  be  made.  A.  Lincoln."  Re- 
turning to  the  War  Department,  Mr.  Sawyer  found  Stanton  writing 
at  a  stand-up  desk.  "I  placed  the  application  on  the  desk  before 
the  Secretary,"  says  Mr.  Sawyer.  "He  did  not  look  up,  but  wrote 
across  the  document :  'Let  the  within  discharge  be  made  in  accord- 
ance with  the  President's  order,  E.  M.  S.'  He  knew  the  discharge 
was  setting  a  bad  precedent,  and  would  not  himself  make  it;  but 
Lincoln,  less  rigorous,  generally  did  as  his  heart  dictated,  right  or 
wrong.  Mr.  Stanton  never  did  anything  on  his  own  motion  that  he 
thought  was  not  right." 

Colonel  J.  B.  Montgomery  of  Portland,  Oregon,  says  that  a 
friend,  an  officer,  desired  a  certain  thing  done.  Stanton  refused, 
and  the  officer  went  to  Lincoln.  The  President,  after  listening,  said 
he  thought  the  request  was  reasonable  and  should  be  granted. 
"Tell  Mr.  Stanton  I  say  so,"  said  Lincoln.     The  officer  explained 


J.  B.  Henherson,  U.  S.  S. 


Peter  G.  Van  W  inki.e.  L'.  S.  S. 


James  W.  Grimes,  U.  S.  S. 


Hugh  McCulloch, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


James  Dixon,  U.  S.  S. 


WAR  OFFICE  SECRETS  AND  EPISODES  347 

that  Stanton  would  pay  no  attention  to  him.  "I  will  give  you  a 
card,"  said  Lincoln,  handing  him  a  slip  containing  a  request  to  Stan- 
ton to  comply  with  Colonel  M.'s  wishes.  "I  can't  do  it,"  said  Stan- 
ton, handing  back  the  President's  note.  The  officer  retired  and  re- 
ported to  the  President,  who  asked  appealingly :  "Well,  now,  my 
friend,  what  can  I  do?  Have  I  not  requested  and,  like  yourself, 
been  refused?"  "There  the  matter  rested  forever,"  says  Colonel 
Montgomery,  adding  that  it  was  this  episode  which  led  Lincoln  to 
explain  to  friends  who  witnessed  the  incident:  "You  see  I  do  not 
have  much  influence  with  this  administration." 

A  young  soldier  whose  mother  was  one  of  Thaddeus  Stevens' 
constituents  had  been  sentenced  to  be  shot  for  sleeping  at  his  post 
on  the  picket  line.  The  mother,  in  the  morning  of  the  day  fixed 
for  the  execution,  applied  to  Stevens  for  help  to  save  her  son,  who  at 
once  took  the  case  to  Lincoln. 

"I  am  sorry,  but  I  can't  help  you,"  said  Lincoln.  "Mr.  Stanton 
says  I  am  destroying  discipline  in  the  army  and  I  have  promised 
him  I  will  grant  no  more  reprieves  without  first  consulting  him." 

"There  is  no  time  to  consult  anybody,"  rejoined  Stevens,  look- 
ing at  the  clock.     "There  is  not  an  hour  to  spare." 

"It  is  too  bad,  but  I  must  keep  my  promise  to  sign  no  more  re- 
prieves," said  Lincoln,  "without  first  referring  them  to  Mr.  Stanton." 

Picking  up  a  telegraph  blank,  Stevens  wrote  a  reprieve  and, 
handing  it  to  Lincoln,  inquired  if  the  form  was  correct.  Lincoln 
said  that  it  was,  whereupon  Stevens  signed  "A.  Lincoln"  to  it  and 
despatched  a  messenger  on  the  run  to  the  telegraph  office  to  have  it 
sent  to  the  officer  in  command  where  the  boy  was  to  be  shot.  In  a 
few  minutes  Stanton  steamed  into  the  Executive  Chamber  ex- 
claiming: 

'T  see,  Mr.  President,  you  have  signed  another  reprieve  con- 
trary to  your  agreement  not  to  do  so  without  first  consulting  the 
War  Department." 

"No,"  responded  Lincoln,  "I  have  signed  no  reprieve.  I  have 
kept  my  word." 

"But  I  just  now  saw  one  going  over  the  wires" — for  Stanton 
ordered  all  messages  to  be  repeated  and  recorded  in  the  War  De- 
partment, so  he  could  know  instantly  everything  that  was  going  on 
in  the  armies — "and  your  name  is  signed  to  it." 

"But  I  did  not  write  it,"  persisted  Lincoln. 

"Did  not  write  it!     Who  did  write  it?" 

"Your  friend,  Thad  Stevens." 


348  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Stanton,  who  had  been  neatly  circumvented,  took  his  hat  and 
left  without  another  word ;  but  the  trick  was  never  repeated. 

Two  Pennsylvania  generals  were  without  commands.  One 
had  been  suspended  for  too  much  conviviality  and  the  other  for  in- 
competence at  Chickamauga.  Both  possessed  strong  political  influ- 
ence and  in  due  time  petitions  asking  for  their  restoration  were 
numerously  signed.  "I  presented  the  petitions,"  says  General  J, 
K.  Moorhead,  then  representing  the  Pittsburg  District  in  Congress, 
"and  informed  the  Secretary  that  the  convivial  general  authorized 
me  to  say  that  he  would  resign  if  Mr.  Stanton  would  recommend 
him  for  a  foreign  mission.  The  Secretary  was  on  fire  in  a  second. 
'I  know  better  than  the  citizens  of  Pittsburg,'  he  exclaimed,  'who 
are  fit  to  command  our  troops.  The  army  already  is  cursed  with 
too  many  drunken  and  incompetent  officers.  I  will  not  put  any 
more  there ;  I  will  not  recommend  General for  a  for- 
eign mission,  and  if  he  doesn't  resign  within  thirty  days,  I  will  drop 
his  name  from  the  rolls.'  Both  resigned.  Secretary  Stanton  was 
right,  of  course,  but  these  two  officers  and  all  their  friends  became 
his  life-long  enemies  ;  and  in  some  such  way,  if  the  truth  could  be 
given  out,  nearly  all  of  the  Secretary's  bitter  enemies  were  created," 
concluded  General  Moorhead. 

Benjamin  Tappan,  jr.,  a  son  of  Stanton's  sister  Oella,  applied 
for  a  transfer  from  a  staff  position  in  the  volunteer  service  to  some 
place  in  the  regular  army,  and  was  greatly  surprised  and  chagrined 
when  his  application  was  rejected  with  a  single  wave  of  his  uncle's 
hand.  Family  ties  had  no  influence  in  official  life  with  Stanton,  but 
Lincoln  himself  promptly  made  the  transfer  in  such  a  way  that  the 
Secretary  could  not  interfere. 

J.  J.  S.  Hassler,  after  serving  as  drill-master  for  several  months, 
decided  that  he  wanted  to  go  into  the  regular  army.  A  number  of 
senators,  representatives,  and  prominent  men  united  in  urging  his 
transfer.  Lincoln  threw  up  his  hands  in  mock  agony,  saying: 
"Gentlemen,  I  can  do  nothing.  That  rests  entirely  with  Mr.  Stan- 
ton ;  but,"  he  said,  letting  his  hands  fall,  "I  can  go  over  and  join 
in  a  request  to  Mr.  Stanton  to  have  Captain  Hassler  appointed  in 
the  regular  army." 

They  went,  but  Stanton  remained  obdurate.  While  returning, 
the  party  met  Adjutant-General  Townsend,  to  whom  they  explained 
their  errand.  'T  think  I  can  fix  it  for  you,"  he  said.  "Let  it  be  un- 
derstood by  the  President  that  Mr.  Hassler  will  step  across  the 


WAR  OFFICE  SECRETS  AND  EPISODES  349 

Street  and  enlist  as  a  private  in  the  regular  army,  at  the  same  time 
resigning  his  commission  as  an  officer  of  volunteers.  He  can  then 
at  once  be  promoted." 

The  President  smiled  and  assented  to  the  subterfuge.  The  de- 
vice came  shortly  to  Stanton,  who  gave  the  officer  who  brought  it  to 
him  one  of  those  through-and-through  looks  with  which  it  was  his 
habit  to  chastise  in  silence  those  who  had  done  something  they  knew 
was  not  right ;  but  he  signed  the  promotion. 

General  E.  D.  Townsend,  referring  to  Hassler's  case,  explains 
why  Stanton  made  the  iron-clad  rule  against  transfers  and  stub- 
bornly adhered  to  it :  "So  many  volunteer  officers  desired  to  get  per- 
manent positions  in  the  regular  army  that,  if  they  had  been  ap- 
pointed, the  volunteer  regiments  would  have  been  without  com- 
manders. Mr.  Stanton  was  right,  therefore,  in  making  this  stern 
rule  against  such  appointments ;  but  I  know  of  no  other  man  who 
could  have  withstood  the  pressure  brought  to  compel  him  to 
break  it." 

Davison  Filson  of  Steubenville  relates  this  pleasant  incident: 

It  was  Mr.  Stanton's  habit  in  passing  up  and  down  the  Ohio  River  be- 
tween his  office  in  Pittsburg  and  his  home  in  Steubenville,  to  ride  in  the 
pilot-house  where  he  could  admire  the  splendid  scenery.  He  thus  became 
acquainted  with  the  little  daughter  of  the  pilot  on  the  Diurnal,  and  very- 
fond  of  her.  Five  or  six  years  later  he  was  secretary  of  war  and  the  pilot 
a  private  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.  Illness  and  poverty  brought  dis- 
tress to  the  pilot's  family.  The  mother  and  children  longed  for  a  visit  from 
the  soldier,  but  he  could  secure  no  furlough.  One  day  the  little  daughter 
inquired  whether  the  man  who  caressed  her  on  the  steamer  was  the  great 
Secretary  of  War  who  could  grant  furloughs.  On  being  told  that  he  was, 
she  wrote  a  letter  reminding  him  of  their  former  acquaintance,  reciting  her 
mother's  distress  and  begging  for  a  furlough  for  her  father.  Her  letter  was 
mailed  as  a  matter  of  gratification  and  forgotten  by  the  family.     A  short 

time  afterwards  Private  R was  summoned  to  headquarters  by 

the  general  and  shown  a  letter  from  Secretary  Stanton  ordering  a  furlough. 
Thus,  the  simple  language  and  trust  of  a  little  child  secured  what  no  amount 
of  political  or  official  pressure  could  have  accomplished — and  that  was 
Stanton. 

Says  William  B.  Bodine,  for  some  time  president  of  Kenyon 
College : 

After  one  of  Secretary  Stanton's  earliest  preceptors,  Dr.  William  Spar- 
row, left  Kenyon,  he  joined  the  Virginia  Theological  Seminary  at  Alexan- 
dria. After  the  war  closed,  he  went  to  Washington  to  enlist  the  Secre- 
tary's aid  in  regaining  possession  of  the  Seminary  buildings.     The  Secretary 


350  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

possessed  the  power  to  accomplish  almost  anything,  and  he  had  a  heart  to 

do  all  he  possibly  could  for  his  beloved  preceptor;  but  he  was  nevertheless 
scrupulously  careful  to  take  no  steps  beyond  what  the  law  permitted.  This 
rugged  adherence  to  right  greatly  impressed  Dr.  Sparrow  who  respected 
Mr.  Stanton  more  profoundly  than  any  other  public  man  he  ever  knew. 

"While  now  pretty  much  everybody  of  any  importance  in  the 
Government  service,  even  a  chief  clerk,  is  provided  with  horses, 
carriage,  and  driver  at  public  expense,"  says  General  Robert  F. 
Hunter  of  Washington,  "Secretary  Stanton  paid  for  the  equipage 
used  by  him  in  Department  business  out  of  his  own  pocket." 

"Yes,"  says  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  "I  drew  Mr.  Stanton's  pay 
every  month,  something  over  six  hundred  dollars,  and  at  once  gave 
almost  half  of  it  to  Irwin,  his  coachman,  who  received  ten  dollars  a 
day  for  the  constant  use  of  two  horses  and  a  carriage.  Irwin  him- 
self was  in  waiting  either  at  the  Department  or  the  Secretary's 
residence  night  and  day  and  Sundays  the  same;  and  while  it  seems 
pretty  steep  for  a  great  war  minister  to  pay  half  of  his  salary  for  a 
coachman,  it  was  not  too  much  for  the  services  rendered. 

"The  Government  should  have  paid  this  heavy  bill,"  continued 
Major  Johnson,  "but  Mr.  Stanton  would  not  ask  it;  he  never  asked 
any  favors.  I  remember  that  Assistant-Secretary  Watson  ordered 
a  caterer  to  bring  lunches  to  the  Secretary  at  times  when  he  could 
not  go  home  to  luncheon,  dinner,  or  for  that  matter,  to  sleep.  The 
auditor  held  up  the  account  for  these  meals,  as  certified  by  Chief 
Clerk  John  Potts,  and  Mr.  Watson  paid  the  bill.  After  that  Mr. 
Stanton  had  a  messenger  bring  luncheons  from  his  house — if  he 
had  any ;  but  very,  very  often  he  went  without  them. 

"I  always  had  Mr.  Stanton  indorse  his  pay  check  and  then  at- 
tended to  his  bills.  I  reported  to  Mrs.  Stanton ;  the  Secretary  never 
would  look  at  my  account.  He  had  no  time  for  that.  He  had  big- 
ger things  on  hand.  Mrs.  Stanton  had  a  little  money,"  concluded 
Major  Johnson,  "and  Mr.  Stanton  owned  his  house ;  otherwise  the 
family  could  not  have  lived  on  the  salary  of  a  cabinet  officer,  for 
everything  was  very  expensive  in  those  days.  Oh,  great  and  intelli- 
gent as  this  people  is,  it  never  will  half  appreciate  either  the  sac- 
rifices or  the  services  of  that  wonderful  man  Stanton  !" 

"While  in  the  Military  Telegraph  service  I  watched  Mr.  Stan- 
ton with  a  mixture  of  awe  and  wonder,"  says  L.  A.  Somers  of  Cleve- 
land. "Day  after  day  and  often  far  into  the  night  I  was  where  I 
could  feel  the  power  of  his  telling  blows  delivered  for  the  Union  re- 


2 
O      . 

(1^  Q 


o  o 


WAR  OFFICE  SECRETS  AND  EPISODES  351 

gardless  of  persons  and  consequences.  I  can  say  further  that  many 
of  the  important  war  telegrams  ascribed  to  President  Lincoln,  and 
in  fact  appearing  in  the  records  as  having  been  written  and  signed 
by  him,  were  inspired  and  their  spirit  and  substance  furnished  or 
they  were  entirely  written  by  Mr.  Stanton." 

"I  myself  took  the  famous  Sunday-Observance  order,  in  Mr. 
Stanton's  handwriting,  to  Lincoln,  who  approved  it  without  sug- 
gesting a  change,  and  it  was  issued  as  coming  from  him,"  says  Gen- 
eral T.  M.  Vincent,  assistant  adjutant-general.  "It  gained  great 
credit  for  the  supposed  author,  and  is  still  in  force.  There  are  many 
other  and  more  weighty  instances  of  the  same  character*  of  which 
the  world  will  never  know.  Secretary  Stanton  dominated  every- 
thing military,  and  the  final  victory  was  largely  his  victory." 

President  Thomas  Sweany  of  the  Wheeling  Bridge  Company 
relates : 

After  Mr.  Stanton  had  recovered  from  the  accident  to  his  leg  which 
resulted  from  falling  into  a  steamer  hatch  while  taking  testimony  in  the 
Wheeling  Bridge  Case,  we  met  in  the  office  of  Russell  and  Fitzhugh  in 
Wheeling  to  continue  the  task.  I  inquired  about  his  health,  in  reply  to 
which  he  related  the  circumstances  and  character  of  the  accident.  I  re- 
torted: "It  is  a  pity  you  did  not  break  your  neck  instead  of  your  leg."  He 
chuckled,  but  apparently  my  remark  went  in  one  ear  and  out  the  other. 
Years  afterward,  however,  I  learned  the  contrary  as  well  as  the  power  of 
his  extraordinary  memory.  During  the  war  the  rendezvous  of  the  army 
was  on  the  island  across  from  Wheeling.  We  charged  for  transporting  the 
wagons  but  not  for  soldiers  on  foot.  Going  to  Washington  to  secure  a 
settlement,  I  found  a  large  assembly  in  the  reception  room  of  the  War  De- 
partment. Mr.  Stanton  caught  sight  of  me  at  once  and  called  out,  "What 
will  you  have,  Mr.  Sweany?" 

"I  have  a  toll  claim  against  the  Government,"  I  replied. 

He  grasped  the  claim,  quickly  swept  over  it  through  his  big  spectacles, 
endorsed  on  the  back  of  it  "allowed,"  and,  passing  it  to  his  secretary,  re- 
marked with  a  quizzical  expression  in  his  magnificent  black  eyes:  "I  sup- 
pose you  do  not  now  wish  that  my  neck  had  been  broken  in  that  hatch 
while  at  Pittsburg."  From  this  and  my  intimate  knowledge  of  the  man  for 
forty  years,  I  can  declare  that  he  never  forgot  anything  that  he  ever  knew, 
saw,  or  heard. 

In  November,  1862,  Charles  A.  Dana  received  a  telegram  from 
Assistant-Secretary  P.  H.  Watson,  asking  him  to  come  immediately 


♦Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson  of  Washington  retains  the  facsimile  stamp 
with  which  Stanton  attached  Lincoln's  signature  to  deliverances  which  were 
technically  supposed  to  come  from  the  President. 


352  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

to  Washington.  He  went  and  was  received  by  Mr.  Stanton,  who 
offered  to  him  the  position  of  assistant  secretary  of  war.  Dana 
said  he  would  accept.  "All  right,"  said  Stanton,  "consider  it  set- 
tled." 

On  leaving  the  War  Office  Dana  met  a  New  York  newspaper 
friend  (Miles  O'Reiley)  and  told  him  of  the  appointment,  which  of 
course  was  announced  in  all  the  papers  the  following  morning. 
Stanton  was  greatly  offended  and  at  once  withdrew  the  appoint- 
ment.* He  permitted  information  concerning  the  doings  of  the  War 
Office  to  be  given  out  by  no  one  but  himself;  "yet  I  thought  I  was 
doing  no  harm  in  telling  of  my  appointment,"  says  Mr.  Dana. 

John  C.  Hesse,  chief  clerk  in  the  bureau  of  records  and  pen- 
sions, who  entered  the  War  Department  in  1861,  says  he  was  thrice 
dismissed  in  writing  by  Stanton,  once  under  circumstances  thus 
related  in  his  own  words : 

Suddenly  the  Old  Man  [Stanton]  asked  for  a  tabular  form  of  the  exact 
strength  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  As  usual,  he  wanted  it  at  once. 
Taking  two  expert  clerks,  I  divided  the  work  off  into  three  parts,  each  tak- 
ing a  share  and  pursuing  the  work  night  and  day.  Just  at  daylight  the  third 
morning  the  task  was  complete.  I  put  the  parts  together  and  delivered 
them  in  the  Secretary's  office.  Mr.  Stanton  was  there — he  had  not  been 
home  at  all  during  the  night.  Handing  the  papers  to  him  I  stated  their 
contents  and  departed. 

Two  days  later  all  the  figures  of  this  secret  matter  appeared  in  a  half- 
secesh  paper  in  Baltimore.  The  Old  Man  was  furious.  "Who  prepared 
those  papers?"  he  demanded  of  the  chief  clerk.  On  receiving  an  answer 
he  grabbed  an  envelope  and  dashed  across  it,  "Let  Hesse,  Wilson,  and 
Smith  be  instantly  dismissed." 

General  Townsend  brought  in  the  dismissal.  I  was  young  and  fiery 
and  exclaimed:  "The  Secretary  can  dismiss  me;  that's  all  right.  But  who- 
ever accuses  me  of  disloyalty  is  a  liar  and  you  please  tell  him  so.  Before 
General  Twiggs  surrendered  his  command  to  the  rebels  in  Texas  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1861,  I  refused  $500  io  gold  and  good  pay  to  drill  secesh  soldiers,  and 
I  was  a  common  soldier  getting  only  $13  a  month.  Then,  when  Twiggs 
surrendered,  I  wrapped  our  flag  about  my  body  and,  crawling,  walking,  and 
skulking  for  days  and  weeks,  brought  it  safely  here  to  Washington.  I  have 
faced  the  enemy  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  am  ready  to  do  it  again;  but  no 
man,  not  even  the  Secretary,  can  accuse  me  of  disloyalty." 

General  Townsend,  when  I  had  finished,  told  me  to  continue  my  work 
and  then  went  to  see  the  Old  Man.  That  was  the  last  I  ever  heard  of  that 
dismissal.     But  Mr.  Stanton  was  all  right.     The  North  was  honey-combed 


♦Subsequently  Stanton  tendered  another  position  to  Mr.  Dana  and 
eventually  made  him  assistant  secretary  of  war,  in  which  office  he  performed 
services  beyond  price. 


WAR  OFFICE  SECRETS  AND  EPISODES  353 

I 

with  disloyalty.  No  man  could  be  trusted  without  being  tested  and  no 
suspected  man  could  be  kept  in  the  Department  an  instant.  His  position 
was  the  most  difficult  in  history,  and  great  as  he  was,  his  hands  were  full 
with  it.  I  loved  the  Old  Man  and  I  love  him  yet;  for  night  and  day  he  was 
tearing  away  at  Rebellion  and  finally  cleaned  it  out,  and  here  we  are! 

Although  his  rules  regarding  official  telegrams,  letters,  orders,  and 
documents  were  of  the  most  rigid  and  comprehensive  character,  and  were 
enforced  with  a  rod  of  iron,  upon  officers  of  every  grade,  he  himself  did  not 
always  obey  them.  Sometimes,  under  the  pressure  of  great  emergencies, 
he  seized  an  envelope  or  other  scrap  from  the  waste-basket  and,  with  his 
big  smearing  pen,  dashed  off  and  handed  out  an  order  which  changed  the 
command  of  an  army  or  took  a  city,  and  afterwards  flailed  his  clerks  because 
they  had  on  file  neither  the  original  nor  a  copy  of  his  paper.  That  is  one 
reason  why  the  originals  of  certain  important  military  and  historical  docu- 
ments are  not  and  never  have  been  on  file  in  the  Department. 

An  illustration  of  the  truth  of  Mr.  Hesse's  statement  is  found 
in  the  following,  written  on  a  small  scrap  of  paper,  and  not  now  on 
file  in  the  Department: 

May  24,  1862. 
General  Saxton: 

You  will  please  proceed  with  the  troops  from  Washington  to  Harper's 
Ferry  and  operate  with  them  according  to  your  discretion  as  circumstances 
may  require,  assuming  command  of  them. 

Edwin  M.  Stanton, 

Secretary  of  War. 

The  spring  of  1864  found  Stanton  nearly  broken  down.  His 
old  friend  John  Harper  of  the  Bank  of  Pittsburg  suggested  that  a 
case  of  wine,  unfermented  and  made  from  native  Catawba  grapes  by 
Mr.  Goering  of  Pittsburg,  might  be  found  strengthening,  and  on  re- 
turning home,  would  send  it.  He  did  so,  receiving  this  acknowl- 
edgment, dated  April  16,  1864: 

My  Dear  Friend: 

I  beg  you  to  accept  my  grateful  thanks  for  the  wine  which  arrived 
safely;  and  still  more  for  the  kind  words  accompanying  it. 

I  find  the  wine  not  only  very  agreeable  to  the  taste,  but  also  to  have  the 
tonic  qualities  you  ascribe  to  it. 

Nothing  material  of  a  public  nature  is  going  on  at  present.  The  impas- 
sable roads  delay  forward  movements,  but  everything  is  moving  favorably 
in  the  way  of  preparation. 

If  Chase  gets  over  his  panic  I  hope  we  will  soon  give  him  "military 
success"  to  financier  on.  If  all  financiers  had  the  pluck  of  the  Bank  of 
Pittsburg,*  Wall  Street  would  not  rampage  so  often. 


♦Extract   from   the  minutes   of   the    Bank   of   Pittsburg:     "The    cashier 
[John  Harper]   having  stated  that  certain  banks  in   Philadelphia  and   else- 


354  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

"This  wine,"  says  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  "was  kept  in  the 
washstand  closet  in  his  room  in  the  Department  for  some  time, 
but  he  did  not  use  it  there.  It  was  subsequently  sent  to  his  home. 
He  was  not  a  user  of  wine — it  was  so  quick  to  go  to  his  great 
brain." 

When  pressed  to  appoint  men  whose  qualities  he  did  not  know, 
Stanton  made  close  inquiries  concerning  them  for  the  purpose  of 
watching  their  weaknesses.     For  instance : 

"Colonel  Townsend  [to  the  Adjutant-General],  what  do  you 
think  of  Major  M for  the  position  of ?" 

"He  talks  too  much  ;  would  not  be  a  proper  appointee." 

In  an  hour  General  Townsend  was  surprised  by  receiving  an 
order  to  make  the  appointment  he  had  just  condemned.  During 
the  following  day  he  was  again  surprised  by  an  order  to  discharge 

or  suspend  Major  M  "instantly,"  accompanied  by  no  written 

reason  therefor.    The  explanation  of  the  performance  is  this  :  There 

was  high  pressure  to  secure  Major  M   ■ 's  appointment.   Stanton, 

having  a  hint  from  General  Townsend  as  to  the  fitness  of  the  man, 
made  the  appointment  as  requested,  but  took  steps  to  watch  the  ap- 
pointee ;  and,  having  found  him,  as  Townsend  said,  too  talkative, 
suspended  him  as  by  lightning-stroke  without  placing  anything  de- 
rogatory on  record  against  him.  Thus  he  watched  and  tested  and 
dealt  with  everybody. 

"The  late  Senator  J.  R.  Doolittle  of  Wisconsin  was  a  power  in 
Congress.  He  demanded  a  certain  favor  from  Stanton,"  says  Gen- 
eral T.  M.  Vincent.  "  'I  can't  do  it,'  said  the  Secretary.  'You  can't 
do  it?'  'No.'  'You  shall  do  it,'  said  Doolittle.  'I  never  will,'  an- 
swered the  Secretary.  'Then  I'll  blow  up  the  Department.'  'Blow 
it  up,'  replied  the  Secretary,  not  even  looking  up  from  his  writing. 
Doolittle  did  not  secure  what  he  demanded  and  the  Department  was 
not  'blown  up.'  " 

General  Vincent  also  recalls  this  incident : 

One  morning  about  10  o'clock  Mr.  Stanton  said  to  me  with  more  than 
usual  abruptness:  "Cummins  has  arrived  from  Philadelphia  with  his  regi- 
ment [19th  Pennsylvania  Cavalry]  and  is  at  the  B.  and  O.  depot.  Pay  off 
him  and  his  men  at  once  and  send  them  to  Arkansas." 


where  had  suspended  specie  payment,  offered  the  following  resolution, 
which  was  unanimously  adopted:  'Whereas,  we  have  heard  that  the  other 
banks  of  Pittsburg  have  suspended  specie  payment;  therefore  be  it  Re- 
solved. That  this  bank  will  cay  specie  on  all  its  liabilities  as  heretofore.' " 


WAR  OFFICE  SECRETS  AND  EPISODES  355 

I  got  money  and  a  paymaster  from  the  paymaster-general,  on  the  Sec- 
retary's order,  ordered  transportation  and  before  night  the  entire  com- 
mand had  been  paid  and  was  en  route,  horses  and  all,  for  the  West.  Orig- 
inally Cummins  had  been  considered  for  the  West,  but,  wishing  to  be  sta- 
tioned in  the  East  where  there  was  less  activity,  he  had  come  on  without 
the  Secretary's  order,  which  accounts  for  the  summary  manner  in  which 
Mr.  Stanton  tired  him  half  across  the  continent. 

That  movement  illustrates  almost  daily  occurrences  under  Stanton,  who 
managed  his  Department  with  less  red  tape  than  ever  had  been  known  in 
Government  operations. 

When  new  recruits  arrived  during  the  first  half  of  1862,  Stanton 
saddled  them  upon  Dix  and  other  generals  and  sent  their  equiva- 
lents in  drilled,  veteran  soldiers  to  McClellan.  When  McClellan 
asked  for  supplies,  arms,  and  ammunition,  Stanton  ordered  his 
wants  to  take  precedence  of  all  other  demands  and  requisitions. 
When  McClellan  asked  to  have  the  navy  cooperate  with  him,  Stan- 
ton requested  Lincoln  to  go  in  person  to  learn  precisely  what  he 
wanted  and  promise  it  to  him.  When  McClellan  seemed  likely  to 
move  toward  the  enemy.  General  Wool  was  ordered  to  care  for 
his  sick  and  wounded.  When  McClellan  called  for  more  men, 
other  commands  were  looted  in  order  to  satisfy  him.  Lincoln  and 
the  entire  administration,  including  the  army  and  navy,  were  kept 
running  after  and  waiting  upon  the  "Little  Napoleon."  Why? 
Stanton  knew  the  character  of  McClellan's  advisers  and  of  their  po- 
litical schemes.  Besides,  he  was  determined  to  furnish  all  the 
means  required  to  whatever  general  was  charged  with  capturing, 
or  was  pretending  to  try  to  capture  Richmond  and  Jefferson  Davis. 

When  Stanton  became  secretary,  the  fortifications  about  Wash- 
ington were  sparse  and  flimsy — little  better  than  straw.  He  ex- 
tended and  strengthened  them  with  great  energy,  so  that  by  Janu- 
ary, 1863,  they  were  reputed  to  be  the  most  extensive  field  works 
known — the  Torres  Vedras,  which  checked  Napoleon  in  Spain,  be- 
ing the  only  possible  exception.  They  comprised  over  fifty  forts, 
innumerable  rifle-pits  and  bomb-proofs,  several  magazines,  and 
vast  quantities  of  stores  and  transportation  accoutrements.  The 
garrisons,  however,  were  always  inadequate,  owing  to  the  urgent 
and  incessant  calls  by  McClellan,  Meade,  Grant,  and  other  com- 
manders for  men  in  the  field,  which  kept  every  resource  exhausted. 
However,  transportation  facilities  were  amply  provided  so  that  in 
case  of  sudden  danger  he  could  quickly  throw  in  a  large  army, 
which  would  find,  on  arrival,  adequate  fortifications  for  its  shelter. 


356  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

A  delegation  of  "conservative"  congressmen,  headed  by  Charles 
A.  Eldredge  of  Wisconsin,  called  on  Lincoln  in  December,  1862, 
to  discuss  the  "limits  of  the  constitution."  As  they  proposed  to 
talk  about  war  measures,  Lincoln  sent  for  Stanton,  who  dismissed 
the  party  in  half  a  minute,  thus:  "The  constitution  can  have  no 
limits  that  will  prevent  saving  the  country.  Constitutions  cannot 
n/ake  countries;  countries  make  constitutions.  Save  the  Republic 
and  you  save  everything." 

The  enlistment  and  equipment  of  eighty-five  thousand  one-hun- 
dred-day men  in  twenty  days  in  the  spring  of  186-1,  was  conceived 
by  Stanton.  He  outlined  the  plan  to  Governor  Brough  of  Ohio,  and 
telegrams  brought  the  governors  of  Indiana,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Illi- 
nois, and  Ohio  to  Washington,  where  the  details  for  carrying  it  into 
effect  were  perfected  in  a  few  hours.  The  feat  was  regarded  as  a 
marvel  and  greatly  strengthened  the  war  sentiment  of  the  country ; 
but  Stanton  is  never  given  credit  for  initiating  it. 

Soon  after  becoming  secretary,  he  invited  John  W.  Garrett  of 
Baltimore,  president  and  principal  owner  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  to  visit  him.  "Baltimore  is  largely  a  secession  city,"  he 
said,  "but  it  is  being  ruined  and  your  railroad  is  being  ruined  by  the 
Rebellion  with  which  it  sympathizes.  Now,  I  will  rebuild  the  parts 
of  your  road  which  may  be  destroyed  by  rebels  and  protect  and  use 
the  line  if  you  will  throw  the  weight  of  all  your  influence  for  the 
L^nion."  Garrett  agreed  and  thereby  not  only  saved  himself  and 
his  city  from  man}'  serious  losses,  but  materially  strengthened  the 
Union  cause,  being  joined  by  many  of  the  leading  business  men  of 
the  city,  who  "discovered  that  secession  was  the  hot  end  of  the 
poker."  Thereafter  Garrett  personally  saw  or  communicated  w^ith 
Stanton  daily  till  the  end  of  the  war,  using  his  railroad  and  his  ener- 
gies and  information  in  aid  of  suppressing  the  Rebellion.  As  he 
knew  almost  everybody  in  the  South,  possessed  enormous  resources, 
and  was  fully  trusted  by  Stanton,  his  services  were  of  great  value. 

The  State  sovereignty  notions  of  State  governors  and  courts 
which  developed  so  many  hitches,  great  and  small,  called  forth  this 
very  interesting  letter,  dated  September  11,  1864,  from  Stanton  to 
J.  Gregory  Smith,  governor  of  Vermont : 

Sir: 

In  reply  to  your  note  of  this  date  in  respect  to  furnishing  arms  and 
accoutrements  for  the  militia  of  your  State,  I  have  the  honor  to  inform 
you  that  in  the  event  of  the  Vermont  legislature  passing  a  law  for  the  or- 
ganization of  the  militia  of  that  State  this  Department  will,  on  your  requi- 


^  -_1^ 


An  Autograph  Letter. 


WAR  OFFICE  SECRETS  AND  EPISODES  357 

sition,  furnish  immediately  15,000  stands  of  arms,  with  accoutrements  com- 
plete, the  arms  to  be  of  the  finest  quality,  Springfield  rifles  and  muskets.  The 
necessary  supplies  of  ordnance  stores  will  also  be  furnished. 

If  it  will  not  be  deemed  improper,  I  beg  leave  to  say  that,  in  my  view, 
it  is  the  duty  of  every  State  to  organize  and  arm  its  militia  promptly  and  by 
suitable  drill  and  instruction  prepare  them  for  their  duty  as  soldiers,  to  pro- 
tect their  homes  and  maintain  the  government  of  their  choice. 

Until  the  present  Rebellion  I  was  of  those  to  hope  there  would  be  war 
no  more  and  that  mankind  had  become  wise  enough  under  our  Government 
to  live  at  peace.  But  when  I  saw  the  slave-holders  of  the  South  and  corrupt 
politicians  of  the  North  plotting  together  to  overthrow  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  and  establish  for  themselves  perpetual  dominion.  North 
and  South,  my  mistake  was  revealed,  and  the  full  force  of  the  maxim  that 
"eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty"  came  home  to  me. 

I  am  now  in  favor  of  arming  every  freedman.  But  arms  without  or- 
ganization are  of  little  account.  I  am  therefore  in  favor  of  organizing 
freedmen  as  soldiers,  and  when  this  is  done  rebels  and  traitors  will  not  be 
apt  to  repeat  their  crimes.  The  militia  of  every  State  should  be  organized, 
trained,  and  instructed  in  the  use  of  arms  if  they  wish  to  live  in  peace. 

Grant  received  his  commission  as  lieutenant-general  from  Lin- 
coln at  the  White  House  in  March,  1864.  At  the  conclusion  of  this 
ceremony  Stanton  said  to  him :  "I  would  like  to  see  you  at  the  War 
Department."  He  appeared  quickly.  "I  telegraphed  for  you  to 
hurry  to  Washington,"  said  Stanton,  "because  your  presence  with 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  is  needed.  Lee's  menacing  the  capital  is 
a  constant  source  of  anxiety.  His  army  is  the  greatest  power  of 
the  South.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  has  fought  many  fierce  bat- 
tles but  really  gained  nothing.  So  long  as  Lee  has  an  army  we  can 
do  little  more  than  prevent  the  capture  of  Washington,  which  is 
now,  as  it  has  been  from  the  first,  the  center  of  the  war.  Lee  must 
be  fought  aggressively  and  constantly.  His  army  must  be  crushed 
and  captured  to  give  us  peace.  I  wanted  you  to  see  for  yourself  the 
necessity  of  having  your  headquarters  with  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, and  I  will  use  all  the  power  of  the  nation  to  give  you  every- 
thing you  want  and  all  the  men  you  can  fight." 

"I  will  see  General  Meade  in  the  morning;  go  West  and  put  the 
armies  under  commanders  and  return,"  was  all  Grant  said  in  reply. 

"General  Grant's  manner  was  very  simple,"  says  Major  A.  E. 
H.  Johnson,  who  took  notes  of  the  interview.  "He  did  not  wish  to 
come  to  the  Potomac  ;  had  not  intended  to  do  so  and  had  been  ad- 
vised by  Sherman  to  keep  away,  but  his  obedience  was  prompt  and 
complete.  That  oral  request  was  all  the  order  he  ever  received  and 
it  was  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  the  war." 


358  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Stanton  had  taken  Grant's  measure  and  a  fortnight  later  issued 
the  order  which  made  him  general-in-chief,  absokite  master,  under 
the  President,  of  all  the  armies  of  the  Union. 

When  he  desired  to  inaugurate  a  new  feature  of  importance 
Stanton  secretly  sent  out  one  or  more  trusted  agents  to  investigate 
and  report.  T.  A,  Scott  reported  upon  the  conditions  in  Tennes- 
see before  Andrew  Johnson  was  appointed  military  governor  of  that 
State,  and  Anson  Stager,  Herman  Haupt,  C.  A.  Dana,  General 
Meigs,  P.  H.  Watson,  and  several  others  in  whom  he  had  confi- 
dence, were  frequently  sent  to  the  front  on  missions  not  stated  nor 
ever  reported  upon  in  writing.  In  this  way  he  was  able  to  measure 
in  advance  the  probable  results  of  his  plans ;  and  not  one  of  import- 
ance miscarried. 

"There  are  fundamental  defects  in  the  mental  processes  of 
many  of  our  generals,"  Stanton  said  to  the  Committee  on  the  Con- 
duct of  the  War,  when  called  upon  for  reasons  for  refusing  to  make 
certain  promotions.  "They  are  permeated  with  the  ancient  notions 
of  war,  born  of  the  day  when  women  bore  all  the  burdens  and  per- 
formed all  the  labor  and  the  men  did  nothing  but  fight.  They  seem 
unable  to  realize  that  this  is  a  Republic,  in  which  the  people  are 
above  generals,  instead  of  generals  above  the  people.  Some  re- 
cover from  their  perverted  notions,  but  many  never  do,  and  I  cannot 
consent  to  the  promotion  of  those  who  do  not.  Men  who  think  the 
country  worth  nothing  except  to  furnish  army  officers  with  just 
what  they  want,  are  unfit  for  military  commands." 

"Secretary  Stanton  did  not  have  complete  confidence  as  com- 
manders in  the  West  Pointers  who  had  served  in  the  engineer 
corps,"  says  General  Robert  F.  Hunter  of  Washington,  "and  with 
good  reason.  They  relied  too  much  on  the  pick  and  spade  and  too 
little  on  the  sword  and  gun.  They  were  always  wanting  to  throw 
up  intrenchments.  They  tended  more  to  circumvallation  than  cir- 
cumvention. They  wanted  to  wall  themselves  in  and  wait  for  the 
enemy.  Naturally  that  exasperated  an  aggressive  man  like  Stan- 
ton. They  were  strategists  rather  than  tactitians.  The  former  can 
get  their  forces  advantageously  to  a  given  point  while  the  latter  can 
handle  their  armies  successfully  on  the  actual  field  of  battle.  The 
former  may  escape  disastrous  defeats,  but  it  is  the  latter  who  win 
the  decisive  victories.  Stanton  was  looking  for  victory,  and  he  did 
not  care  whether  the  leaders  who  gave  it  to  him  came  from  West 
Point  or  the  pine  forests  of  the  wild  and  woolly  West." 


WAR  OFFICE  SECRETS  AND  EPISODES  359 

In  August,  1864,  J.  S.  Black  visited  Jacob  Thompson,  who  had 
been  a  member  of  Buchanan's  cabinet  with  Stanton  and  was  now 
insurgent  agent  in  Canada,  intimating  that  he  represented  Stanton 
in  negotiating  for  an  armistice  of  three  or  six  months.  On  return- 
ing from  the  interview  Black  wrote  to  Stanton  suggesting  that  he 
advise  the  declaration  of  an  armistice  for  the  purpose  of  beginning 
"negotiations  in  earnest,"  unless  Lincoln  "had  made  up  his  mind  to 
fight  it  out  on  the  emancipation  issue."  Stanton  wrote  to  Black 
denying  his  assumption  of  authority,  refusing  to  give  advice  in 
favor  of  an  armistice  and  closing  thus :  "The  upshot  of  it  is  that 
you  go  in  for  an  armistice,  which  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  South 
Carolina  wanted  when  the  Rebellion  began.  You  and  I  opposed  it 
then  as  fatal  to  our  Government  and  our  national  existence ;  I  still 
oppose  it  on  the  same  ground." 

Lincoln  authorized  recruiting  among  insurgent  prisoners  with- 
out consulting  Stanton.  The  plan,  when  it  came  to  the  notice  of 
Grant  and  the  public,  met  with  decided  protests  and  Stanton  was 
roundly  denounced  for  inaugurating  it.  On  September  22,  1864, 
Lincoln  sent  a  telegram  to  Grant  saying  that  sort  of  thing  would  go 
no  further  and  concluding:  "The  Secretary  of  War  is  wholly  free 
from  any  part  in  this  blunder."  The  press,  in  ignorance  of  Lin- 
coln's telegram,  continued  to  blame  Stanton,  which  illustrates  the 
circumstances  surrounding  nearly  every  act  for  which  the  Secretary 
was  criticized.  Somebody  else  was  responsible,  but  he  never  dis- 
closed who  that  somebody  was  in  order  to  exculpate  himself. 

To  his  first  call  for  tenders  of  water  transports  for  the  army, 
in  February,  1862,  he  added  this  clause :  "No  speculative  proposi- 
tion will  be  received,  nor  propositions  from  persons  not  now  in  pos- 
session or  having  control  of  the  required  means  of  transportation." 
This  prevented  mere  speculators  from  securing  contracts  to  be  sold 
or  sublet  to  others  and  eliminated  scandals  which  for  some  time  had 
been  disturbing  the  public. 

During  the  opening  months  of  the  war  soldiers  were  paid  in 
coin,  some  of  which  was  captured  by  the  insurgent  raiders,  while 
much  of  the  remainder,  being  expended  by  the  men  in  the  field, 
found  its  way  into  the  Confederate  cofTers,  to  that  extent  weakening 
the  Union  and  strengthening  the  Rebellion.  Stanton,  seeing  that 
this  was  undermining  the  Government,  prepared  a  brief  which  was 
approved  by  John  Andrews,  the  noted  banker  and  financier  of  Co- 
lumbus, Ohio,  advising  Secretary  Chase  to  begin  the  issue  of  paper 


360  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

money  Defore  the  gold  in  the  Treasury  had  been  exhausted,  as  other- 
wise notes,  having  no  specific  foundation  of  redemption,  would  de- 
preciate almost  to  the  point  of  worthlessness.  Subsequent  expe- 
rience proved  the  correctness  of  his  judgment. 

In  January,  1865,  he  visited  Savannah  to  investigate  the  negro 
and  cotton  problems.  Besides  making  a  personal  survey  of  the  new 
situation  in  which  the  war  had  placed  the  colored  people,  he  wished 
to  learn  their  hopes  and  wants  from  their  own  lips.  Having  given 
a  public  audience  to  them,  he  selected  twenty  representatives  from 
the  mass  present  and  laboriously  wrote  down  the  testimony  given 
by  each,  unabridged,  putting  numerous  questions  intended  to  bring 
out  fuller  expressions  upon  the  more  perplexing  features  of  the  im- 
portant subject.  General  Townsend  oflFered  to  procure  the  services 
of  a  clerk,  or  to  do  the  writing  himself,  but  Stanton  replied  that  if 
he  made  the  record  with  his  own  hand  he  "would  be  sure  that  noth- 
ing had  been  lost  or  discolored" — a  characteristic  of  every  important 
step  of  his  official  life. 

In  offering  a  great  reward  for  the  capture  of  the  assassin  of 
Lincoln  and  his  conspirators  in  that  crime,  Stanton  did  not  include 
a  price  for  apprehending  Jefferson  Davis,  although  possessing  an 
ampler  knowledge  of  the  ramifications  of  the  conspiracy  than  any 
other  man.  Therefore  President  Johnson  proclaimed  a  reward  of 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  apprehension  of  the  fleeing 
head  of  the  Confederacy.  Under  this  stimulation  Davis  was  cap- 
tured on  May  10,  1865,  at  Laurens,  Georgia,  by  soldiers  from  Wis- 
consin and  Michigan,  and  confined  at  Fortress  Monroe.  When 
Stanton*  learned  that  the  prisoner  had  been  placed  in  irons,  he  or- 


*For  years  Stanton  was  bitterly  hated  in  the  South  because  of  the  un- 
founded belief  that  he  caused  Jefferson  Davis  to  be  placed  in  irons.  The 
order  to  manacle  Davis  is  in  the  hand  of  Charles  A.  Dana,  who  was  at 
Fortress  Monroe  when  the  noted  prisoner  arrived  there,  as  follows: 

"Fortress  Monroe,  May  22,  1865. 

"Brevet-Major-General  Miles  is  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  place 
manacles  and  fetters  on  the  hands  and  feet  of  Jefferson  Davis  and  Clement 
C.  Clay,  jr.,  whenever  he  may  think  it  advisable  in  order  to  render  their  im- 
prisonment more  secure.  C.  A.  Dana, 

"By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  Assistant  Secretary  of  War." 

The  records  connect  Stanton  with  the  affair  in  no  way  except  by  the 
order  to  unshackle  the  prisoner.  However,  Mr.  Dana  states  that  the  Sec- 
retary feared  that  Davis  might  commit  suicide  if  given  an  opportunity,  and 
declared  that  such  an  opportunity  must  not  be  permitted. 


WAR  OFFICE  SECRETS  AND  EPISODES  361 

dered  an  immediate  delivery  from  that  indignity  and  gave  in- 
structions which  resulted  in  making  the  captive  as  comfortable 
as  possible  under  the  circumstances.  Immediately  afterwards, 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  Davis  was  indicted  for  treason 
and  "inciting  the  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
murdering  Union  prisoners  of  war  by  starvation  and  other 
barbarous  and  cruel  treatment."  In  October  the  President  asked 
Chief  Justice  Chase  when  he  would  hold  a  term  of  court  in  Virginia 
for  the  trial  of  Davis.  Chase  replied  that  no  court  would  be  held 
while  martial  law  prevailed  in  his  circuit.  In  May,  1866,  Davis 
was  indicted  for  treason  by  a  Virginia  grand  jury  sitting  at  Nor- 
folk, and,  although  Stanton  advised  against  it,  the  prisoner  was 
turned  over  to  the  civil  authorities  and,  in  May,  1867,  bailed  out  by 
Horace  Greeley  and  others  in  the  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars. In  November,  1868,  President  Johnson  having  joined  Chief 
Justice  Chase  in  opposing  a  trial,  a  nolle  prosequi  was  entered  and 
the  prisoner  discharged,  Stanton  wanted  Davis,  when  first  ar- 
rested, tried  at  once,  in  a  fair  and  dignified  manner.  He  was  op- 
posed, however,  by  Chief  Justice  Chase  and  later  by  President 
Johnson,  both  of  whom  were  manoeuvring  for  the  presidency.  Stan- 
ton never  thought  of  the  presidency  or  anything  else  but  his  coun- 
try while  discharging  his  public  duties. 

Colonel  A.  S.  Worthington  of  Washington,  who  entered  the 
army  as  a  mere  boy  at  Steubenville,  Ohio,  had  his  right  leg  shot  ofif, 
and  was  in  a  hospital  at  Nashville  perishing  of  gangrene.  His 
mother  arrived  and  engaged  a  physician  who  removed  the  boy  to  a 
private  house.  This  enraged  the  hospital  surgeon,  who,  regarding 
the  removal  as  a  reflection  on  himself,  ordered  the  patient  returned. 
"Send  word  to  father,"  said  the  boy,  and  the  physician  telegraphed 
the  facts  as  directed.  Instantly  D.  B.  Worthington,  the  father, 
telegraphed  from  Steubenville  to  Stanton,  and  within  three  hours 
the  hospital  surgeon  received  this  from  Stanton  :  "Let  young  Worth- 
ington remain  where  his  mother  has  placed  him."  By  a  miracle  the 
boy  recovered.  Later  he  went  to  Washington  to  thank  Stanton  for 
the  intercession  which  saved  his  life.  Stanton  replied :  "Yes,  I  love 
to  lay  a  heavy  hand  on  those  fellows  when  they  need  it." 

"You  are  too  arbitrary,"  exclaimed  Governor  Andrew  Curtin 
of  Pennsylvania,  after  he  had  failed  to  swerve  the  Secretary.  "I  am 
not  arbitrary  enough,"  was  the  rejoiner.     "War  is  arbitrary  and 


362  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

cannot  be  managed  except  by  such  arbitrary  rules  as  will  prevent 
interference  by  men  like  yourself." 

Whenever  a  man  was  proposed  for  an  important  command 
Stanton  investigated  not  only  his  personal  record,  but  that  of  his 
family.  Thus,  when  Grant  recommended  a  certain  general  to  com- 
mand the  Department  of  West  Virginia,  Stanton  was  able  to  tele- 
graph:   "General has  a  young  wife  in  Baltimore  and  of  course 

family  connections" — meaning  connections  not  in  sympathy  with 
the  Government,  a  fact  not  known  to  Grant.  The  appointment  was 
not  made. 

Soon  after  General  John  C.  Fremont  was  appointed  to  the 
Mountain  Department  at  Wheeling,  he  wrote  to  Stanton  asking  to 
be  relieved  because  Pope,  who  did  not  rank  him,  had  been  put  over 
him,  and  to  serve  under  Pope,  he  said,  would  "reduce  his  rank  and 
consideration."  Within  eight  minutes  the  relief  order  was  written 
and  contained  a  repetition  of  Fremont's  own  words  as  the  reason 
for  its  issue,  thus  making  the  record  show  forever  that  personal 
"rank  and  consideration"  and  not  the  welfare  of  the  nation  was  the 
controlling  motive  of  one  of  his  commanders. 

Several  times  those  who  felt  that  Stanton  was  managing  the 
War  Department  with  too  little  regard  for  individual  interests  and 
ambitions,  inaugurated  movements  to  secure  his  retirement.  In 
December,  1862,  a  rumor  that  he  was  about  to  resign  brought  pro- 
tests from  all  the  loyal  governors.  To  Governor  Morton  he  tele- 
graphed on  December  23 :  "I  shall  never  desert  my  post.  Of  this 
you  may  be  sure."  Morton  telegraphed  the  reply  to  the  other  gov- 
ernors. 

General  J.  M.  Schofield's  recent  admirable  work  ("Forty-Six 
Years  in  the  Army")  handles  Stanton  very  gingerly.  The  War 
Ofifice  archives  disclose  one  reason  for  so  doing:  When  Schofield 
seized  the  hospital  boat  Spalding  for  his  own  personal  quarters, 
Stanton  took  the  craft  away  by  a  curt  order  and  reported  the  afifair 
to  Grant  as  a  reprehensible  irregularity  and  a  justification  for  not 
promoting  Schofield  as  Grant  had  recommended.  Some  such  rea- 
son might  be  found  for  every  hostile  expression  which  has  been  put 
upon  record  against  Stanton. 

Captain  J.  B.  Corey,  head  of  the  Corey  Coal  Company  of  Pitts- 
burg, throws  this  light  on  Stanton's  removal  of  General  B,  F,  Butler 
from  the  command  of  New  Orleans : 


Capt.  Charles  W.  Batcheller. 


James  B.  Corey. 


WAR  OFFICE  SECRETS  AND  EPISODES  363 

The  firm  of  J.  B.  Corey  and  Company  of  Pittsburg  arrived  in  New  Or- 
leans with  several  large  cargoes  of  coal  which  had  been  exchanged  for  sugar 
for  the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  markets  just  as  Louisiana  seceded  from  the 
Union.  The  coal  was  at  New  Orleans,  but  the  sugar  was  at  St.  Mary's 
plantation,  on  so-called  neutral  ground. 

The  Confederate  Government  confiscated  not  only  this  coal  but  all  coal 
belonging  to  Northern  men  and  impressed  Peterson,  a  strong  Union  man 
and  a  member  of  our  firm,  to  take  charge  of  it.  He  issued  coal  on  Con- 
federate requisitions  from  other  cargoes,  finally  getting  ours  ashore. 

At  this  moment  Admiral  Farragut  and  General  Butler  captured  New 
Orleans,  and  the  latter  began  at  once  to  issue  requisitions  on  Corey  and 
Company's  coal,  which  were  filled,  Peterson  having  disobeyed  the  order  of 
the  retreating  Confederates  to  burn  it. 

We  explained  the  entire  situation  to  General  Butler  and  asked  for  pro- 
tection to  get  off  our  sugar,  for  sugar  was  scarce  and  dear  and  needed  in 
the  North.  Butler  refused,  but  two  days  later  Colonel  Butler,  the  general's 
brother,  privately  informed  Corey  and  Company  that  he  would  secure  a 
convoy  for  the  sugar  if  given  every  third  barrel — the  entire  cargo  being 
worth  $300,000. 

Corey  and  Company  said  they  would  consult  the  home  office  at  Pitts- 
burg. On  second  thought  J.  H.  Peterson  and  myself  proceeded  rapidly  to 
Washington  to  lay  the  matter  before  Mr.  Stanton. 

We  arrived  at  the  War  Department  on  October  4,  1862,  just  as  Secre- 
tary Stanton's  daily  levee  to  the  public  opened.  The  room  was  crowded 
with  black  and  white,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  soldiers  and  civilians.  I 
had  known  something  of  Mr.  Stanton  in  Pittsburg,  and  was  aware  that  he 
was  a  very  able  man;  but  I  was  more  than  astonished  at  the  manner  in 
which  he  disposed  of  the  various  claims  of  that  motley  crowd.  Jvlany  mat- 
ters were  decided  before  the  orators  were  half  through  telling  what  they 
wanted,  and  the  one  or  two  questions  that  he  asked  now  and  then  invariably 
exposed  the  vital  portion — frequently  the  fatal  weakness — of  the  case. 

When  my  turn  came  he  glared  at  me  as  if  to  look  me  through  and 
through  and  discover  whether  my  brain  held  any  dishonorable  motives  or 
scheme  in  hiding.  I  began  to  relate  General  Butler's  requirements  when 
he  exclaimed:  "I  have  heard  of  something  of  that  sort  before;  be  seated;  I 
wish  to  question  you." 

I  stepped  aside  for  others  and,  later  that  day,  Mr.  Peterson  and  myself 
were  driven  with  Secretary  Stanton  to  his  residence,  where  we  explained 
our  situation,  reinforced  by  documentary  evidence. 

That  was  not  enough.  He  wanted  to  know  all  about  General  Butler's 
administration,  saying  both  Lincoln  and  himself  had  received  a  large  num- 
ber of  complaints.  I  replied  that  we  did  not  wish  to  refer  to  anything  be- 
yond our  own  case,  because  we  had  everything  tied  up  at  New  Orleans  and 
were  completely  at  the  mercy  of  General  Butler. 

He  replied  that  we  should  have  protection;  and  then  Mr.  Peterson,  who 
had  been  held  in  New  Orleans  over  a  j'ear,  answered  fully  and  truthfully. 
Mr.  Stanton  asked  particularly  concerning  General  Butler's  order  prohibit- 


364  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

ing  the  sale  of  liquors  in  New  Orleans,  and  its  suspension  after  Colonel 
Butler,  his  brother,  had  bought  up  all  the  whiskey  in  the  city  and  brought 
a  fresh  cargo  to  the  wharf,  all  of  which  sold  at  an  enormous  profit. 

At  the  conclusion  of  our  story,  Secretary  Stanton  requested  us  to  come 
to  the  office  next  day.  We  obeyed  and  received  an  order  on  General  Butler 
for  our  sugar.  As  we  were  about  to  leave,  I  again  said  to  Mr.  Stanton  that, 
in  A'lew  of  the  paper  we  had  obtained,  the  information  we  had  given  would 
work  the  ruin  of  our  company  if  the  facts  should  come  to  General  Butler's 
knowledge,  to  which  he  quickly  replied: 

"Have  no  fear.  Just  as  soon  as  a  competent  successor  can  be  found  I 
shall  remove  General  Butler;  and  in  the  meantime  applj-  to  me  for  any  pro- 
tection needed  and  it  will  be  forthcoming." 

Of  course  we  secured  our  sugar  on  Mr.  Stanton's  order  and  General 
Butler  was  removed  on  the  direct  information  furnished  by  our  firm — a 
fact  not  found  in  the  histories. 

When,  subsequently,  Lincoln  essayed  to  restore  Butler  to  the 
New  Orleans  command,  the  opposition  was  so  sharp  that  he  as- 
signed him  to  Fortress  Monroe,  from  which  position  Stanton  ulti- 
mately removed  him  on  the  request  of  Grant,  who  declared  in  writ- 
ing that  his  "administration  is  objectionable."  In  1865  Stanton  re- 
fused to  appoint  George  F.  Shepley  military  governor  of  Virginia 
because  he  "had  been  connected  with  Butler's  administration  in 
Xew  Orleans."  However,  there  never  was  the  slightest  break  in 
the  old  friendship  between  Stanton  and  Butler.  The  suspensions  or 
removals  mentioned,  notwithstanding  Butler's  great  services  to  the 
country  and  the  warm  personal  regard  stibsisting  between  the  two, 
were  simply  imavoidable. 

Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  Stanton's  confidential  clerk  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end  of  the  Rebellion,  contributes  these  entirely 
characteristic  anecdotes : 

In  receiving  a  committee  of  mercy  in  behalf  of  Mrs.  Surratt,  sentenced 
to  be  hanged  for  the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  Mr.  Stanton  observed  Dr. 
A.,  a  surgeon  in  the  United  States  army.  Looking  at  him  fiercely,  Stanton 
said:  "You  had  better  take  off  those  epaulettes;  thej'  are  not  an  honor  to 
you  on  this  occasion."  This  was  a  wet  blanket  to  the  committee,  who  soon 
withdrew  in  confusion. 

When  Adjutant-General  Thomas  came  to  serve  President  Johnson's  or- 
der removing  Mr.  Stanton,  he  brought  as  a  witness  General  W'illiams,  re- 
cently married  to  the  beautiful  widow  of  the  late  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  As 
soon  as  the  order  had  been  read.  Mr.  Stanton  said:  "General  Williams,  I  am 
not  surprised  at  the  coming  of  General  Thomas,  but  I  am  surprised  to  see 
you  abetting  him.  Your  presence,  for  the  purpose  for  which  you  come,  is  an 
affront  to  your  superior  and  unbecoming  an  officer  of  the  army  of  the  United 


WAR  OFFICE  SECRETS  AND  EPISODES  365 

States.  I  order  you  to  your  room."  General  Williams  had  not  been  ad- 
vised of  the  purpose  to  be  served  by  his  presence,  and  left  the  room  at  once. 

The  achievements  of  General  Stoneman's  great  cavalry  force  in  Virginia 
were  not  satisfactory  to  Stanton,  and  on  several  occasions  he  called  Stone- 
man  to  the  Department  for  a  severe  talk.  His  face  was  thin  and  he  looked 
as  if  he  needed  rest,  sleep,  and  medicine.  While  waiting  in  the  big  room 
adjoining  to  see  the  Secretary,  he  fainted  and  fell  to  the  floor.  Surgeon- 
General  Barnes,  who  was  present,  instantly  took  charge  of  the  General  and 
revived  him.  Mr.  Stanton  came  quickly,  and  addressing  the  prostrate  offi- 
cer, kindly  bade  him  take  some  rest,  and  instructed  General  Barnes  to  at- 
tend him.  If  Mr.  Stanton  intended  any  harsh  arraignment,  he  was  discon- 
certed and  softened  by  the  incident,  and  merely  said  that  he  would  see  the 
General  when  he  was  better;  but  the  General  never  came  again.  I  always 
thought  that  he  fainted  in  contemplation  of  the  purpose  of  the  stern  Sec- 
retary. 

At  midnight  of  the  first  day's  battle  at  Gettysburg,  Lincoln  came  into 
the  Secretary's  room  looking  heart-broken.  The  secretary  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Woman's  Relief  Corps,  who  was  present  on  business,  had  been  tell- 
ing about  the  incompetence  of  which  she  knew  and  heard  much  in  the  army 
of  McClellan,  when  Stanton  asked  her  to  repeat  it  to  the  President,  who 
replied:  "My  great  mistake  was  in  allowing  General  McClellan  to  hug  Wash- 
ington a  whole  year." 

Senator  J.  B.  Henderson  of  Missouri  sought  the  pardon  of  a  Confeder- 
ate who  had  been  sentenced  to  death  as  a  spy.  It  was  the  case  of  two  broth- 
ers— one  in  the  Union  army  with  Grant,  the  other  a  Confederate  soldier — 
fighting  in  Missouri.  Mr.  Stanton  investigated  the  story  told  by  Senator 
Henderson  and  advised  him  that  the  soldier  had  been  found  guilty  as  a  spy, 
and  must  die  according  to  the  laws  of  war.  The  senator,  who  had  been 
sent  to  the  Secretary  by  Lincoln,  returned  to  the  President,  who  indorsed 
the  papers  with  an  order  for  a  new  trial.  At  the  second  trial  the  spy  was 
again  sentenced  to  be  shot  and  the  senator  again  brought  the  case  to  the 
Secretary,  who  was  as  inexorable  as  before. 

Upon  the  grounds  that  the  war  was  practically  over  (Richmond,  I  think 
had  just  surrendered)  Senator  Henderson  obtained  a  third  trial,  through 
the  leniency  of  the  President,  which  again  resulted  in  a  verdict  of  death.  A 
third  time  the  senator  was  sent  to  the  Secretary  by  the  President,  with  the 
plea  that  the  war  was  over  and  that  the  man  ought  not  to  be  shot,  but  Mr. 
Stanton  would  do  nothing.  The  verdict  of  a  court-martial  levying  the  death 
sentence  on  a  spy  for  the  third  time,  he  said,  should  never  be  set  aside.  I 
afterwards  heard  that  the  President,  before  he  was  assassinated,  pardoned 
the  spy.  The  tender-hearted  President  would  not  have  a  court-martial  death 
sentence  carried  out,  and  my  impression  is  that  for  this  reason  Congress  by 
an  act  took  the  power  of  interference  away  from  him. 

Colonel  Payton  was  recruiting  his  regiment  in  Philadelphia,  but  in  the 
time  allowed  could  not  complete  the  quota  and  asked  for  an  extension  of 
thirty  days.  Governor  Curtin  and  other  prominent  Pennsylvanians  joined  in 
the  recommendation,  on  which  Lincoln  made  the  following  endorsement: 
"Allow  Colonel  Payton  the  additional  time  required,  unless  there  be  reason 
to  the  contrary  unknown  to  me."    Under  these  words  Secretary  Stanton  en- 


366  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STAi^ITON 

dorsed:  "There  is  good  and  valid  reason  for  not  extending  the  time  and  the 
Secretary  of  War  refuses  to  do  it."  In  every  refusal  to  execute  endorse- 
ments of  this  kind  by  the  President  Mr.  Stanton  was  in  the  right. 

A  senator  came  from  the  President  with  papers  asking  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  charge  of  desertion  against  a  private  soldier.  Of  all  things, 
a  deserter  was  the  most  repugnant  to  the  Secretary,  and  with  a  motion  of 
his  hand  he  refused  to  receive  the  paper,  and  said  impatiently:  "This  is 
the  case  of  a  deserter,  is  it?  I  want  nothing  to  do  with  it.  We  have  too 
many  of  that  kind.  We  had  better  make  a  few  examples  by  shooting  a 
deserter  now  and  then."  The  senator  was  visibly  angry,  and  said  he  would 
take  the  case  back  to  the  President.  He  returned  later  with  an  order  from 
the  President  for  the  removal  of  the  charge  of  desertion,  but  Stanton  refused 
to  execute  it.  Thereupon  the  senator  quickly  left,  but  Mr.  Stanton  called 
him  back  and  directed  the  adjutant-general  to  execute  the  order,  at  the  same 
time  saying  to  the  senator:  "The  President's  kindness  to  the  private  soldier 
under  whatever  charge,  is  bad;  no  commander  could  aflford  to  exercise  it." 
The  senator  said  he  would  get  the  President's  order  to  amend  the  record 
and  place  the  soldier  right  on  the  rolls,  to  which  Mr.  Stanton  rejoined 
with  irritation:  "Go  to  the  President,  if  you  please,  for  I  will  not  consider 
the  case,  nor  will  I  execute  the  order."  The  President's  order  was  exe- 
cuted by  the  adjutant-general  without  Mr.  Stanton's  approval,  and  prob- 
ably without  a  substantial  base  of  justice. 

Mr.  Stanton  was  always  looking  out  for  cases  of  conspicuous  bravery 
in  battle  that  he  might  instantly  make  suitable  recognition  by  promotion. 
Such  acts  gave  him  special  pleasure  in  cases  of  volunteers,  for  the  reputa- 
tion of  West  Point  was  at  a  very  low  ebb  in  the  purer  teachings  of  patriot- 
ism. It  was  the  boast  of  Jefferson  Davis  that  he  had  the  pick  of  the  offi- 
cers of  our  army,  and  he  did  carry  with  him  into  the  Confederate  service 
sixty-four  West  Point  generals.  This  fact  and  the  declaration  of  Davis 
tainted  the  whole  regular  army.  In  order  to  offset  it,  Mr.  Stanton  made 
promotions  for  personal  bravery  and  meritorious  conduct  in  hundreds  of 
cases  without  waiting  for  the  recommendations  of  the  commanding  gen- 
erals. 

In  the  case  of  General  Robert  C.  Schenck,  who  fell  fighting  at  the 
head  of  his  division  in  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run.  in  1SG2,  Mr.  Stanton 
sent  a  promotion  to  be  major-general,  with  the  following  letter,  which  I 
delivered  in  person  at  Willard's  Hotel: 

"My  Dear  Sir: — No  official  act  has  been  performed  by  me  with  more 
pleasure  than  the  just  tribute  to  your  ability  and  patriotism,  conveyed  by 
the  enclosed  appointment  to  the  rank  of  major-general  for  gallant  and 
meritorious  service  to  your  country.  I  hope  your  health  may  soon  permit 
you  to  accept  a  command  befitting  your  rank.  My  regret  for  the  painful 
suffering  you  now  endure  from  the  wound  received  on  the  field  of  battle 
is  enhanced  by  the  need  the  Government  has  at  this  moment  for  your 
services." 

This  letter,  to  one  who  entered  the  service  without  military  experience, 
was  intended  by  INIr.  Stanton  to  show  that  brains  and  patriotism  could  re- 
place the  losses  suffered  at  West  Point. 


WAR  OFFICE  SECRETS  AND  EPISODES  367 

The  printed  acts  of  Congress  relating  to  the  war  came  to  the  Secretary, 
but  he  never  called  for  one.  He  knew  them  because  he  had  drafted  or  in- 
spired practically  every  one,  and  in  the  reception  room  he  showed  his 
complete  knowledge  of  the  laws  which  bore  upon  each  matter  presented 
to  him. 

His  desk  was  always  full  of  papers  in  confusion,  and  the  accumulated 
letters  I  kept  unfolded  in  boxes  of  letter  size  upon  a  high  table  about 
twelve  feet  long.  I  could  put  my  hand  upon  any  letter  he  wanted;  he  him- 
self never  looked  for  one.  He  rarely  answered  any  of  the  personal  letters 
sent  to  or  left  with  him.  Sometimes  he  dictated  answers  and  then  did  not 
send  them.  Nearly  all  his  writing  was  confined  to  military  matters,  mostly, 
telegrams,  and  in  writing  and  sending  these  he  seemed  to  take  special 
pleasure. 

Mr.  Stanton's  love  for  Democratic  governors  was  very  marked.  They 
were  his  greatest  hope  for  troops,  and  some  of  them  gave  him  more  than 
he  asked.  This  was  particularly  true  of  Governor  Brough  of  Ohio,  to  whom 
he  was  specially  devoted. 

At  the  ceremony,  which  was  private,  of  swearing  in  Andrew  Johnson 
a.s  president,  immediately  after  President  Lincoln's  death,  Stanton  observed 
two  unbidden  guests — his  two  bitterest  foes — Francis  P.  Blair,  sr.,  and 
Montgomery  Blair,  the  latter  the  postmaster-general  dismissed  from  the 
cabinet  by  Lincoln  during  the  previous  September.  As  Stanton  personally 
gave  all  the  orders  and  directions  relative  to  the  ceremony,  the  presence 
of  his  two  most  relentless  enemies  gave  him  no  little  concern.  He  could 
not  imagine  how  they  got  there. 

At  that  solemn  moment,  having  taken  his  oath,  the  new  President  said: 
'T  am  deeply  impressed  with  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion  and  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  office  I  am  assuming.  Its  duties  are  mine;  I  will  perform  them; 
the  consequences  are  with  God.  Gentlemen,  I  shall  lean  upon  you:  I  feel 
that  I  shall  need  your  support." 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  of  the  twelve  persons  including  the  entire 
cabinet  save  Seward,  the  two  uninvited  Blairs  were  the  only  ones  selected 
by  President  Johnson  to  "lean  upon."  Instead  of  supporting  him,  the 
Blairs  knocked  the  support  from  under  him  and  nearly  threw  the  country 
into  another  war.  Their  presence  seemed  prophetic,  and  in  the  distance 
they  must  have  seen  the  fulfillment  of  plans  conceived  by  them,  when,  at 
the  second  inauguration  of  Lincoln,  they  took  Vice-President  Johnson  from 
the  Senate  chamber  to  their  home  at  Silver  Springs,  Maryland,  in  a  deplor- 
able condition. 

I  never  knew  Mr.  Stanton  to  appoint  any  relative  to  office  except  his 
brother-in-law  [C.  P.  Wolcott]  to  be  assistant  secretary.  The  Secretary's 
own  son,  Edwin  L.,  coming  from  Kenyon  College  without  a  cent,  for  some 
time  acted  as  clerk  to  Assistant-Secretary  Eckert  without  pay,  but  General 
Eckert  finally  appointed  him  to  the  clerkship  which  his  father  would  not 
grant. 

Mr.  Stanton  never  read  newspapers  in  his  office,  and  none  were  fur- 
nished to  him.  He  often  locked  himself  in  his  room  and,  for  an  hour's  rest 
upon  the  sofa,  read  Littell's  Living  Age. 


368  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Mr.  Stanton  directed  me  to  order  certain  English  magazines — the  Edin- 
burgh Quarterly,  and  IVestminster  Reviews.  These  magazines  and  the  English 
press  were  open  partisans  of  the  Confederacy.  They  predicted  that  the 
Union  could  not  be  preserved  and  that  the  peace  of  Europe  would  be  safer 
with  two  or  three  or  even  more  Republics  on  the  North  American  conti- 
nent in  place  of  one.  He  read  these  predictions  to  the  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives and  especially  a  prophecy  by  Bulwer  Lytton  that  soon  there 
would  be  seen  "not  two  but  four  separate  and  sovereign  commonwealths 
arising  out  of  those  populations  which  a  year  ago  united  their  legislation 
under  one  president  and  carried  their  merchandise  under  one  flag." 

I  have  heard  Mr.  Stanton  say  that  the  treatment  of  our  troubles  by  the 
English  rang  constantly  in  his  ears  and  put  upon  him  an  increased  deter- 
mination to  bring  out  the  full  power  of  the  Government  to  save  the  Union. 

PJe  always  believed  that  ultimately  the  Union  would  be  saved.  His 
first  declaration  was  before  the  Supreme  Court  in  January,  1861.  Some  mat- 
ter was  pending  in  the  celebrated  Gaines  case  which  looked  forward  to 
action  by  the  court  the  next  summer.  "That  will  be  impossible,"  said  Caleb 
Gushing,  opposing  counsel,  "because  this  nation  and  this  court  will  not  then 
be  in  existence!"  The  justices  stared  at  each  other  in  amazement.  Mr. 
Stanton  sprang  to  his  feet,  and,  glaring  at  Gushing,  exclaimed:  "This  court 
and  this  Union  will  endure  until  long  after  all  knowledge  of  those  now  in 
this  august  presence  has  passed  into  oblivion!"  After  a  few  moments  of 
profound  silence  court  suddenly  adjourned.  From  that  moment  Mr.  Stan- 
ton was  the  great,  originating,  controlling,  and  saving  power  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

While  the  country  was  paying  court  to  General  Adam  Badeau  on  ac- 
count of  his  relations  with  Grant,  Stanton  never  noticed  him.  Badeau 
wrote  to  me  for  copies  of  certain  telegrams  from  General  Halleck  alleging 
the  drunkenness  of  Grant  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  but  Stanton  told  me  to 
pay  no  attention  to  it  and  I  obeyed,  though  I  might  have  written  that 
those  messages  were  not  then  on  file.  Badeau  disliked  Stanton  very  much 
and  so  did  every  other  member  of  Grant's  staff,  for  he  paid  no  attention 
whatever  to  them.  Of  course  they  attempted  to  poison  Grant  against  Stan- 
ton and  to  some  extent  succeeded,  and  they  have  ever  since  attempted  to 
poison  history. 

Grant  came  very  seldom  to  the  Department  to  see  Mr.  Stanton,  after 
the  war  closed,  and  generally  never  stayed  more  than  a  few  minutes.  Mr. 
Stanton  very  seldom  sent  for  him,  and  so  far  as  I  can  recall,  always  des- 
patched the  colored  messenger  [Madison]  which  made  all  at  Grant's  head- 
quarters mad,  for  no  doubt  the  message  was  delivered  as  it  was  sent:  "Tell 
General  Grant  to  come  over  here."  In  the  same  way  Mr.  Stanton  sent  me 
to  Secretaries  Seward,  Chase,  and  others.  Although  I  delivered  a  polite 
request,  I  could  see  they  did  not  like  it,  but  they  always  came. 

Henry  L.  Dawes  tells  frankly  how,  with  others  equally  prom- 
inent and  trusted,  he  once  was  led  to  impose  upon  Lincoln,  but  was 
unable,  though  armed  with  one  of  the  most  circumstantially  com- 
plete cases  presented,  to  hoodwink  Stanton, 


WAR  OFFICE  SECRETS  AND  EPISODES  369 

A  quartermaster  from  Massachusetts  had  been  caught  by  Stan- 
ton's agents  gambling  with  public  funds  and  was  sentenced  to  the 
penitentiary  for  five  years.  Soon  afterward  Dawes  received  a  long 
petition  indorsed  by  the  prison  physicians  and  other  medical  au- 
thority, stating  that  the  culprit's  health  was  broken  and  that  he 
must  be  pardoned  soon  or  die  imprisoned.  Lincoln  on  receiving 
the  petition  asked  Dawes  if  he  believed  the  statements  therein  con- 
tained. He  did,  and  so  stated  on  the  back  of  the  paper,  and  Lin- 
coln ordered  the  man  to  be  pardoned.  Stanton  refused  to  execute 
the  order  and  informed  Lincoln  that  the  petition  was  a  sham  and 
the  prisoner  one  of  the  worst  rascals  in  the  country.  In  due  time, 
however,  Dawes  succeeded  in  inducing  Lincoln  to  send  the  pardon 
over  Stanton's  head  in  order  to  prevent  a  man  from  dying  in  prison. 
A  few  days  later  Dawes  returned  to  Massachusetts  and,  he  says,  al- 
most the  first  man  he  met,  hale  and  robust  and  cheery  was  the 
thieving  quartermaster  who  had  been  pardoned  over  Stanton's  pro- 
test because  he  was  "dying"  ! 

The  son  of  a  man  who  had  befriended  Lincoln  in  the  days  of 
his  poverty,  desired  a  certain  army  appointment.  Congressmen 
Julian  of  Indiana  and  Lovejoy  of  Illinois  went  to  Lincoln,  who  in- 
dorsed the  application  and  sent  them  with  it  to  Stanton. 

"No,"  said  the  Secretary. 

"Let  us  give  his  qualifications,"  suggested  the  Congressmen. 

"I  do  not  wish  to  hear  them,"  was  the  reply.  "The  position 
is  of  high  importance.  I  have  in  mind  a  man  of  suitable  experience 
and  capacity  to  fill  it." 

"But  the  President  wishes  this  man  to  be  appointed,"  per- 
sisted the  callers. 

"I  do  not  care  what  the  President  wants;  the  country  wants 
the  very  best  it  can  get.  I  am  serving  the  country,"  was  the  retort, 
"regardless  of  individuals." 

The  disconcerted  Congressmen  returned  to  Lincoln  and  re- 
cited their  experience.  The  President,  without  the  slightest  per- 
turbation, said : 

Gentlemen,  it  is  my  duty  to  submit.  I  cannot  add  to  Mr.  Stanton's 
troubles.  His  position  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  in  the  world.  Thousands 
in  the  army  blame  him  because  they  are  not  promoted  and  other  thousands 
out  of  the  army  blame  him  because  they  are  not  appointed.  The  pressure 
upon  him  is  immeasurable  and  unending.  He  is  the  rock  on  the  beach  of 
our   national   ocean   against   which   the   breakers   dash    and   roar,    dash    and 


370  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

roar  without  ceasing.  He  fights  back  the  angry  waters  and  prevents  them 
from  undermining  and  overwhelming  the  land.  Gentlemen,  I  do  not  see 
how  he  survives,  why  he  is  not  crushed  and  torn  to  pieces.  Without  him 
I  should  be  destroyed.  He  performs  his  task  superhumanly.  Now  do  not 
mind  this  matter,  for  Mr.  Stanton  is  right  and  I  cannot  wrongly  interfere 
with  him. 

Colonel  William  P.  Wood,  superintendent  of  the  Old  Capitol 
and  Carroll  prisons  in  Washington  during  the  Rebellion,  was  sent 
by  Stanton  to  learn  accurately  about  English  officers  who  were  al- 
leged to  be  in  active  command  in  the  Confederate  armies.  Dressed 
as  a  North  Carolina  insurgent,  through  the  aid  of  Mrs.  Greenhow  of 
Richmond,  he  became  acquainted  with  two  such  officers  and  played 
cards  with  them  several  nights,  learning  their  commands,  viewing 
their  papers,  and  unearthing  their  purposes.  Much  elated,  he  re- 
turned witli  these  facts  to  Stanton,  who  exclaimed  vehemently: 

"Where  are  the  mcii?  Why  didn't  you  bring  the  men?  Why 
didn't  you  bring  them  ?" 

"That  was  Stanton,"  says  Colonel  Wood.  'T  nearly  lost  my 
neck  in  carrying  out  his  perilous  instructions,  and  succeeded  in  se- 
curing the  information  wanted,  but  that  was  nothing;  he  was  de- 
termined to  have  those  British  officers  who  were  fighting  the  United 
States  taken  inflagrante  delictu  and  brought  bodily  to  his  office  with 
British  papers  in  the  pockets  of  their  Confederate  uniforms  and  was 
in  high  dudgeon  because  I  had  not  done  it.  That  was  impossible, 
but  Mr.  Stanton  hardly  regarded  anything  as  impossible.  He  acted 
on  that  theory  not  less  with  himself  than  with  his  trusted  agents, 
who  filled  the  bill  as  best  they  could  at  any  hazard.  No  man  serv- 
ing with  him  dared  to  fail." 

John  C.  Hesse,  chief  clerk  of  the  Bureau  of  Records  and  Pen- 
sions, says  that  one  reason  why  many  important  orders  and 
documents  of  the  Rebellion  period  are  missing  from  the  files 
of  the  War  Department  is  that  Stanton  often  penned  them  in 
haste  on  stray  scraps  of  paper  and  handed  them  personally  to  the 
officers  who  were  to  obey  or  execute  them.  Another  reason  is  that 
during  the  war,  owing  to  the  great  pressure  of  business  and  a  short- 
age of  clerks,  large  numbers  of  original  papers  were  sent  to  the 
public  printer  as  "copy"  and  that  individual,  having  cut  them  into 
"takes,"  burned  or  sold  them  as  waste  after  they  had  been  put  in 
type. 


CHAPTER  LXIV. 

RELIGION  AS  A  WAR  FORCE. 

Stanton  habitually  invoked  divine  favor  in  behalf  of  his  gener- 
als and  their  armies  and  thanked  God  for  their  many  victories.  His 
bulletin  of  April  9,  1862,  which  closed  with  decisive  thanks  and 
praise  to  Generals  Halleck,  Grant,  Pope,  Curtis,  and  Sigel  for  their 
gallant  conduct  at  the  bloody  battles  of  Pea  Ridge,  Pittsburg  Land- 
ing, and  Island  No.  10,  Ordered: 

That  at  meridian  of  the  Sunday  next  after  the  receipt  of  this  order,  at 
the  head  of  every  regiment  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  there  shall 
be  offered  by  its  chaplain  a  prayer  giving  thanks  to  the  Lord  of  Hosts  for 
the  recent  manifestations  of  His  power  in  the  overthrow  of  rebels  and 
traitors,  and  invoking  a  continuance  of  His  aid  in  delivering  this  nation  by 
its  army  of  patriotic  soldiers  from  the  horrors  of  rebellion,  treason,  and 
civil  war. 

At  night  of  the  first  day's  battle  of  Gettysburg,  Mrs.  John  Har- 
ris, secretary  to  the  Philadelphia  Woman's  Relief  Corps,  came  to 
ask  for  a  permit  to  carry  supplies  for  use  on  the  battle-field.  "He 
told  her  not  to  go,"  says  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  "because  within 
twenty-four  or  even  twelve  hours  Lee  might  be  marching  against 
the  city.  So  great  was  his  feeling  that  he  wept  as  he  suggested 
that  she  return  at  midnight,  when  he  might  have  more  reassuring 
news.  Before  her  departure  he  prayed,  for  he  possessed  an  almost 
superstitious  sense  of  human  dependence  upon  an  incessant  and  di- 
rect intervention  of  divine  power." 

He  never  ceased  to  implore  the  aid  of  the  great  religious  bodies 
of  the  country  in  behalf  of  the  Union  and  kept  closely  in  touch  with 
their  leaders  and  divines.  He  gave  Dr.  Heman  Dyer  of  New  York 
views  of  the  McClellan  imbroglio  which  were  communicated  to  no 
one  else,  and  consulted  frequently  with  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
Henry  W.  Bellows,  Archbishop  John  Hughes,  and  Theodore  Tilton 
of  New  York;  Bishop  Matthew  Simpson  of  Philadelphia;  Arch- 
bishop Purcell  of  Cincinnati ;  Bishop  E.  R.  Ames  of  Baltimore ; 


372  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Bishop  M.  J.  Spalding  of  Louisville  and  Baltimore ;  Dr.  C.  W.  Hall, 
the  Reverend  T.  A.  Starkey,  and  the  Reverend  Byron  Sunderland  of 
Washington,  and  many  others,  and  also  kept  them  privately  in- 
formed concerning  the  war.  When  he  was  aware  of  favorable  mili- 
tary news,  he  found  a  way  to  communicate  it  to  certain  ministers  of 
the  gosepl  who  gave  it  to  their  congregations  from  the  pulpit  and 
thus  cheered,  strengthened,  and  sustained  the  community. 

His  first  civil  appointment  was  that  of  Bishop  E.  R.  Ames  of 
Baltimore  to  look  after  captives  held  in  Southern  prisons.  He  ap- 
pointed Dr.  Heman  Dyer's  son,  who  was  terribly  wounded  in  bat- 
tle, to  be  paymaster;  he  gave  to  Bishop  Simpson's  son  a  good  army 
position  in  Pennsylvania  ;  he  assiduously  looked  after  the  welfare 
of  other  divines  and  repeatedly  ofifered  honorable  appointments  to 
them.  A  letter  by  Bishop  Simpson  to  his  family,  written  at  Wash- 
ington, January  20,  1863,  bears  interestingly  on  this  point : 

I  preached  Sunday  at  Foundry  church.  Crowded  house.  Secretary 
Stanton  and  his  wife  were  in  front,  on  chairs;  President  Lincoln  in  the 
altar.  The  President  made  by  contribution  a  life  member;  collection  $770. 
Secretary  Stanton  sent  for  me;  was  about  telegraphing  to  Evanston. 
Wished  me  to  be  chairman  of  a  commission  to  visit  Fortress  Monroe,  Port 
Royal,  and  New  Orleans  to  examine  the  condition  of  the  colored  people  and 
make  suggestions.  He  wanted  three  public  men  apart  from  politics.  He 
offered  transportation,  assistance,  a  clerk,  and  fair  compensation.  I  have, 
however,  declined  every  such  proposition. 

During  the  fearful  draft  riots  in  New  York  City  in  July,  1863, 
Stanton  (by  special  messenger)  invited  Archbishop  John  Hughes, 
the  most  original,  influential,  and  powerful  Catholic  in  America,  to 
visit  him  in  Washington.  On  returning  to  New  York  his  eminence, 
who  had  been  Stanton's  friend  and  an  aggressive  supporter  of  the 
Union  from  the  first,  called  a  meeting  at  his  residence  to  devise 
means  of  suppressing  the  emcutc,  and  appealed  to  the  clergy  and 
laity  throughout  the  country  (for  there  were  riots  almost  every- 
where) to  support  the  Government  and  discountenance  resistance. 
He  made  his  last  public  address  at  this  time,  and  by  his  personal 
activity,  aided  more,  perhaps,  than  any  other  individual  to  perma- 
nently neutralize  the  prevailing  distemper. 

In  November,  1863,  Stanton  issued  an  order  placing  all  the 
Methodist  church  edifices  in  the  South  which  were  without  loyal 
pastors,  under  control  of  Bishop  Ames,  provided  their  pulpits  should 
be  filled  by  persons  who  could  be  relied  upon  to  support  the  Gov- 


RELIGION  AS  A  WAR  FORCE  373 

ernment.  The  trust  was  accepted ;  money  was  set  aside  by  the 
church  to  carry  it  out  and  the  Union  cause  was  thereby  greatly 
strengthened  by  an  independent  force  which  required  no  pay  or 
attention  from  the  War  Department. 

In  January,  1865,  Stanton  made  a  trip  on  the  Spalding  to  Sa- 
vannah to  consult  with  General  W.  T.  Sherman  concerning  the 
negro  and  cotton  problems.  At  the  usual  church  hour  on  Sunday,  in 
mid-ocean,  he  called  those  on  board  about  him  and  held  Episcopal 
services,  reading  from  the  Bible  and  pronouncing  a  sermon  explana- 
tory of  certain  passages  bearing  upon  the  war.  "His  remarks  were 
very  clear  and  able,"  says  General  E.  D.  Townsend,  who  was  pres- 
ent, "and  at  the  conclusion  he  prayed  fervently  for  the  success  of  the 
Union  arms  and  the  restoration  of  peace  and  brotherly  feeling 
between  the  sections." 

That  Stanton  entertained  no  crude  or  insincere  conception 
of  the  value  of  the  aid  contributed  by  the  leaders  of  the  churches 
is  shown  by  the  following  letter : 

Washington  City,  November  24,  1866. 
General: 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  introduce  to  you  the  Reverend  Matthew  Simp- 
son, Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  who  visits  New  Orleans  and 
perhaps  will  go  to  Texas  to  hold  a  conference.  He  is  accompanied  by  his 
son  who  is  in  ill  health. 

Bishop  Simpson  is  no  doubt  known  to  you  as  one  of  the  most  eloquent, 
learned,  and  patriotic  men  of  our  country  and  age.  No  one  during  the  war 
did  so  much  to  encourage  and  strengthen  loyal  and  patriotic  sentiments  and 
to  sustain  the  army  by  appeals  to  the  benevolence  of  the  people. 

I  commend  him  and  his  son  to  your  kindest  attention  and  courtesy,  be- 
lieving that  you  will  take  pleasure  in  contributing  to  their  comfort  by  any 
means  in  your  power.  If  the  Bishop  should  go  to  Texas,  I  request  you  to 
give  him  such  letters  to  officers  in  your  command  as  may  be  of  service  and 
protection  to  him  there. 

With  sincere  regard,  I  am. 

Truly  yours, 
Major-General  Sheridan,  Edwin  M.  Stanton, 

Commanding,  New  Orleans.  Secretary  of  War. 

While  imprisoned  in  the  War  Department  during  the  contest 
with  President  Johnson,  Stanton  sent  for  Bishop  Simpson.  He 
wanted  to  know  whether  the  God-fearing  portion  of  the  people 
endorsed  his  course ;  and,  if  not,  what  they  thought  he  ought  to  do. 
On  being  told  that  the  loyal  and  Christian  masses  approved  his 
attitude  fully  and  hoped  he  would  never  surrender,  he  seemed  much 


374  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

gratified  and  requested  the  Bishop  to  pray,*  the  hour  being  2 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  A  few  days  later  he  wrote  tenderly  as  fol- 
lows to  the  good  bishop  who  had  lost  a  son : 

Washington  City,  March  26,  1868. 
My  Dear  Friend: 

I  sympathize  deeply  with  you  and  your  family  in  the  recent  dispensa- 
tion of  Providence  that  has  brought  mourning  to  your  household.  The  be- 
reavement, however  certain  and  long  expected,  falls  not  less  heavily  when 
a  loved  one  is  called  from  earth  to  mansions  in  the  sky. 

To  you  I  will  not  presume  to  ofifer  consolation,  for  you  know  better 
than  I  whence  it  can  come;  but  I  hope  it  will  not  be  regarded  intrusiv.e  for 
me  to  ask  to  share  your  sorrow.     With  sincere  affection, 

Truly  your  friend, 
The  Reverend  Bishop  Simpson.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

Stanton  did  not  confine  the  use  of  religion  as  a  war  measure  to 
the  activities  of  others,  but  was  himself  a  believer  in  faith  and 
prayer.  "I  know  that  frequently  during  the  war,"  says  the  Rev- 
erend John  P.  Newman,  "Secretary  Stanton  retired  to  a  private 
room  in  the  War  Department  and  prayed  for  his  country." 

"More  than  half  a  dozen  times  when  calling  on  Secretary  Stan- 
ton in  the  War  Department,"  says  the  Reverend  Charles  W.  Hall, 
"he  led  me  into  his  private  ofiice  and  invited  me  to  pray — 'Pray  for 
Mr.  Lincoln,  pray  for  the  country,  pray  for  our  armies  and  their 
commanders,  and  pray  for  me.'  His  religion  got  nothing  from  rit- 
uals or  church  forms.  It  was  not  emotional  or  spasmodic,  but 
a  deep  conviction  of  right-thinking  and  right-doing  which  included 
love  of  country  and  an  abiding  resolve  to  make  any  required  sac- 
rifices in  its  behalf." 

On  March  30,  1869,  he  received  the  sacrament  of  baptism  from 
his  old  friend  the  Reverend  William  Sparrow  (who,  as  professor  in 
Kenyon  College  in  1832,  was  the  guide  and  counselor  of  his  youth) 
in  the  presence  of  General  E.  Shriver,  General  E.  D.  Townsend, 
General  M.  C.  Meigs,  and  several  other  army  officers  and  friends 
who  had  been  invited. 


*Says  Miss  S.  Elizabeth  Simpson  of  Philadelphia:  "My  father  and  Sec- 
retary Stanton  were  very  intimate  and  very  frequently  consulted  on  im- 
portant topics.  No  matter  how  great  the  pressure,  the  Secretary's  room 
was  always  open  to  my  father.  I  have  heard  him  say  that  when  calling  at 
the  War  Department  during  the  more  anxious  days,  Mr.  Stanton  would  lead 
Jiim  by  the  arm  into  the  private  office  and  say,  'Now,  Bishop,  pray.'  " 


Rev.  Theodore  D.  Weld. 


Bishop  Heman  Dyer. 


RELIGION  AS  A  WAR  FORCE  375 

"He  was  to  have  been  confirmed  at  the  next  coming  of  the 
Bishop,"  says  the  Reverend  T.  A.  Starkey,  "and  I  should  have  pre- 
sented him  for  that  second  rite,  considering  him  spiritually  prepared 
to  receive  it  ;*  but  he  died  before  the  Bishop  arrived.  I  was  at  his 
bedside  engaged  in  spiritual  duties  for  three  hours  before  his  death, 
which  he  approached  without  fear,  his  great  work  being  finished 
and  his  heart  ready." 


*Although  he  left  Steubenville  more  than  twenty  years  before  his  death, 
he  regularly  paid  pew  rental  in  several  churches  in  that  city;  gave  money 
to  building  and  parsonage  funds,  and  at  one  time  was  a  trustee  and  at- 
torney of  the  Church  of  the  Disciples.  He  was  for  years  a  pew-holder, 
though  not  a  communicant,  of  Epiphany  Church  in  Washington,  in  which 
his  children  were  baptized. 


CHAPTER  LXV. 

GRANT'S    CRITICISMS  — INSIDE    HISTORY. 

Ulysses  S.  Grant  died  in  July,  1885.  A  few  months  later  his 
"Personal  Memoirs"  made  their  appearance.  In  them  among-  other 
criticisms  of  Stanton,  may  be  found  the  following,  in  Volume  II. : 

[P.  37]  Owing  to  his  natural  disposition  to  assume  all  power  and 
control  in  all  matters  that  he  had  anything  whatever  to  do  with  (a)  he 
boldly  took  command  of  the  armies,  and,  while  issuing  no  orders  on  the 
subject,  (b)  prohibited  any  order  from  me  going  out  of  the  adjutant-gen- 
eral's office  until  he  had  approved  it.  This  was  done  by  directing  the  ad- 
jutant-general to  hold  any  orders  that  came  from  me  to  be  issued  through 
the  adjutant-general's  office  until  he  had  examined  them  and  given  them 
his  approval,  (c)  He  never  disturbed  himself,  either,  in  examining  my 
orders  until  it  was  entirely  convenient  for  him,  so  that  orders  which  I  had 
prepared  often  lay  there  three  or  four  days  before  he  would  sanction  them. 
I  remonstrated  against  this  in  writing  and  the  Secretary  apologetically  re- 
stored me  to  my  rightful  position  as  general-in-chief  of  the  army.  But  he 
soon  lapsed  and  took  control  much  as  before. 

[P.  573]  (d)  Mr.  Stanton  cared  nothing  for  the  feelings  of  others. 
In  fact,  it  seemed  to  be  pleasanter  to  him  to  disappoint  than  gratify,  (e) 
He  felt  no  hesitation  in  assuming  the  functions  of  the  Executive,  or  acting 
without  advising  with  him.  *  *  *  (f)  Mj-  Lincoln  was  not  timid 
and  he  was  willing  to  trust  his  generals  in  making  and  executing  their 
plans.  The  Secretary  was  very  timid  and  (g)  it  was  impossible  for  him 
to  avoid  interfering  with  the  armies  covering  the  capital  when  it  was  sought 
to  defend  it  my  making  an  offensive  movement  against  the  army  guarding 
the  Confederate  capital.  *  *  *  (j^)  7/,^  enemy  uvidd  not  have 
been  in  danger  if  Mr.  Stantoji  had  been  in  the  field  \ 

(a)  Stanton,  acting  ministerially,  had  "command  of  the  arm- 
ies," Grant  included,  without  taking  it  "boldly"  or  otherwise.  The 
law  gave  it  to  him.  The  United  States  Supreme  Court  had  decided 
unanimously  that  the  secretary  of  war,  when  acting  in  war  matters, 
is  supreme,  in  fact  is  the  president;  and  that  his  orders  and  acts, 
as  such,  are  the  orders  and  acts  of  the  president.  To  complain, 
therefore,  that  the  secretary  of  war  acted  as  the  secretary  of  war, 
seems  extremely  childish  and  is  entirely  unlike  Grant. 


GRANT'S  CRITICISMS— INSIDE  HISTORY  377 

(b)  Stanton  never  "prohibited"  the  adjutant-general  from  is- 
suing Grant's  orders.  Immediately  after  the  appearance  of  the 
"Personal  Memoirs,"  Adjutant-General  Townsend,  in  response  to 
a  written  request  to  do  so,  refuted  the  charge  quoted  above,  saying: 

Mr.  Stanton  instructed  the  adjutant-general  to  show  him  all  the  "gen- 
eral orders"  before  issuing  them.  They  were  put  in  type  and  taken  to  him. 
This  proper  and  legal  practise  prevailed  a  long  time  before  General  Grant 
came  to  Washington.  After  he  came  the  rule  prevailed  until  Mr.  Stanton 
himself  changed  it  by  directing  the  issue  of  Grant's  orders  in  the  General's 
name.  Occasionally — a  very  few  times  indeed — he  said:  "Leave  that  with 
me;  I  want  to  see  General  Grant  about  that  before  it  is  issued."  Other- 
wise, as  I  personally  know,  and  as  the  records  will  prove,  the  General's 
orders  were  never  permitted  to  lie  on  the  Secretary's  or  any  other  table. 

In  fact,  after  the  General  had  fully  established  headquarters  in  Wash- 
ington, the  Secretary  instructed  me  to  issue  his  orders  at  once  and  bring  a 
copy  to  him  afterwards,  and  that  zvas  the  invariable  rule. 

Finally,  Mr.  Stanton  suggested  or  drafted  the  law  of  1867  which  made 
General  Grant  supreme  in  military  matters! 

Mr.  Stanton  did  not  "soon  lapse"  as  stated  in  the  "Memoirs,"  nor 
"lapse"  at  all.  He  never  "lapsed,"  and  I  do  not  undertake  to  guess  why  that 
unfounded  statement  is  made  in  the  "Memoirs." 

Thus,  Grant's  "Memoirs"  not  only  belie  the  record,  but  in  1869, 
when  Grant  became  president,  he  issued  (March  26)  an  order  di- 
recting that  "all  official  business  which  by  law  or  regulation  requires 
the  action  of  the  President  or  Secretary  of  War,  will  be  submitted 
by  the  chiefs  of  staff  corps,  Departments,  and  bureaus  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  War'' — the  very  thing  his  "Memoirs"  condemn  in  Stanton! 

In  1897  General  John  M.  Schofield,  who  had  been  secretary  of 
war  and  lieutenant-general  of  the  armies,  put  forth  a  volume 
("Forty-six  Years  in  the  Army")  devoted  exclusively  to  war  history. 
Therein  he  refutes  the  assumption  of  Grant's  "Memoirs"  and  fully 
sustains  Stanton's  practise,  explaining  that  he  officially  "disclaimed 
the  right  to  issue  any  order  without  the  knowledge  of  the  President 
or  the  Secretary." 

(c)  That  Grant  could  utter  anything  which  would  be  so  pal- 
pably disagreeable  to  the  public  mind  as  that  Stanton  "never  dis- 
turbed himself"  about  performing  public  duty,  seems  incredible. 
Stanton  was  notoriously  an  enemy  to  laggards  and  drones ;  and, 
beyond  the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  no  feature  of  the  Rebellion  is 
more  salient  than  that,  pressing  and  delving  on  night  and  dav, 
sparing  or  thinking  of  himself  never,  he  literally  wore  himself  out, 


378  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

"disturbed  himself"  to  death  in  the  prompt  and  vigorous  perform- 
ance of  the  prodigious  labors  of  the  War  Office. 

"Mr.  Stanton  never  neglected  anything,"  says  General  Thomas 
M.  Vincent,  assistant  adjutant-general  under  Stanton.  "Every 
day's  work  was  complete  before  he  left  the  office  at  night,  and  fre- 
quently he  did  not  leave  at  all  at  night  but  the  next  morning.  His 
wife,  who  could  see  that  he  was  destroying  himself,  frequently  came 
at  midnight  or  a  little  later,  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  him  to  go 
home.  I  have  known  him  many  times  to  keep  on  nevertheless  with 
work  that  he  regarded  as  important  until  nearly  or  quite  daylight, 
Mrs.  Stanton  patiently  but  anxiously  waiting  for  him.  To  say  that 
such  a  man  did  not  disturb  himself  to  perform  his  duty  is  in 
wretched  taste,  to  be  as  mild  as  possible." 

It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  Grant  indited  or  inspired  that 
statement,  for  on  August  12,  1867,  he  wrote  to  Stanton :  "I  cannot 
let  the  opportunity  pass  without  expressing  to  you  my  deep  appre- 
ciation of  the  zeal,  patriotism,  firmness,  and  ability  with  which  you 
have  cz'cr  discharged  the  duties  of  secretary  of  war,"  and  in  his 
proclamation  on  December  24,  1869,  announcing  Stanton's  death,  he 
left  an  equally  strong  countervailing  record. 

(d)  "Mr.  Stanton  did  'care  for  the  feelings  of  others,'  and  went 
out  of  his  way  very  frequently  to  do  kindnesses  that  were  not  ex- 
pected of  him,"  says  Adjutant-General  Townsend,  who  for  years 
was  by  his  side  night  and  day.  "He  probably  sometimes  made  mis- 
takes— though  none  that  were  not  in  favor  of  the  Government — but 
he  took  great  pains  to  rectify  such  mistakes,  which  were  generally 
if  not  invariably  the  result  of  misapprehension  in  others." 

Stanton  "cared  for  the  feelings"  of  Grant  and  showed  it  in 
many  substantial  ways.  He  telegraphed  frequently  to  him  like  a 
brother.  Thus,  on  May  9,  1864,  1  A.  M. :  "I  enclose  all  the  informa- 
tion we  have.  May  God  bless  you  and  crown  you  and  your  gallant 
army  with  victory." 

On  May  14,  1864,  in  response  to  Grant's  request  that  General 
John  Gibbon  be  made  a  major-general,  he  telegraphed:  "There  is 
no  vacancy  for  a  major-generalship,  but  I  will  muster  some  one  out 
for  Gibbon" — which  meant  he  would  do  it  to  please  Grant ! 

Gibbon  repaid  Stanton  by  viciously  denouncing  him  at  reunions 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

Thus  to  Grant  on  December  25,  1864;  "My  best  wishes  and  a 
Merry  Christmas !" 


GRANT'S  CRITICISMS— INSIDE  HISTORY  379 

At  3  P.  M.,  on  March  3,  1865,  Grant  telegraphed  to  Stanton  re- 
questing the  appointment  of  General  John  A.  Rawlins  as  brigadier- 
general  and  asked  the  Secretary's  favorable  recommendation.  As 
soon  as  he  could  seize  a  pen  Stanton  replied  by  telegraph :  "The 
name  of  General  Rawlins  will  be  sent  in  immediately  and  with 
great  pleasure." 

Upon  the  surrender  of  Lee,  the  following  splendid  acknowledg- 
ment was  sent  by  Stanton  to  Grant  at  9  :30  P.  M.  of  April  9,  1865 : 

Thanks  be  to  Almighty  God  for  the  great  victory  with  which  he  has 
this  day  crowned  you  and  the  gallant  army  under  your  command.  The 
thanks  of  this  Department,  of  the  Government,  and  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  their  reverence  and  honor,  have  been  deserved  by  and  will 
be  rendered  to  you  and  the  brave  officers  and  soldiers  of  your  army  for  all 
time. 

On  April  12,  1865,  during  the  jubilee  in  Washington  over  the 
fall  of  Richmond  and  the  surrender  of  Lee,  a  great  throng,  led  by 
bands  of  music,  marched  to  Stanton's  residence  for  the  purpose  of 
doing  homage  to  the  life-giving  figure  of  the  Rebellion,  shouting: 
"Stanton,  Stanton  !  a  speech,  a  speech  !" 

Thereupon,  Stanton,  ignoring  the  palpable  fact  that  the  demon- 
stration was  a  tribute  to  him  alone,  led  out  and  presented  Grant, 
who,  unknown  to  the  public,  had  that  day  become  his  guest.  Twice 
again  the  multitude  called,  "Stanton,  Stanton;  a  speech,  a  speech!" 
and  twice  again  the  Secretary  led  forth  the  hero  of  Appomattox  to 
receive  the  wild  huzza  of  honor  intended  for  himself! 

Thus,  the  day  before  Lincoln  was  shot,  April  13,  1865,  he  sent 
this  note  to  General  Grant : 

I  suggested  to  the  President  my  desire  to  invite  you  to  the  cabinet  meet- 
ing to-morrow  as  one  of  us.    He  cordially  assented. 

Your  presence  will  afford  the  President  and  the  members  of  the  cabi- 
net an  opportunity  to  express  their  gratitude  and  that  of  the  nation 
to  you  for  your  invaluable  services  in  putting  down  the  Rebellion,  and  at 
the  same  time  permit  us  to  have  the  benefit  of  your  views  on  reconstruction, 
a  matter  which  I  design  shall  be  quite  fully  discussed  at  the  meeting  men- 
tioned. 

I  may  as  well  say,  atid  I  take  great  pleasure  in  doing  so,  that  your  presence 
will  be  welcome  at  any  cabinet  conference  held  while  you  may  be  in  the  city. 
To  this  suggestion  also  the  President  assented  willingly. 

Heavily  as  he  was  burdened,  Stanton  found  time  to  communi- 
cate by  telegraph  with  Mrs.  Grant  in  New  York,  St.   Louis,  or 


380  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

wherever  she  might  be  when  not  with  her  husband,  and  then  to 
telegraph  her  words  and  greetings  to  cheer  the  General  in  the  field. 

No  father  for  his  son,  no  husband  for  his  wife  was  ever  more 
thoughtful  than  Stanton  was  for  Grant.  That  is  the  record,  and 
"what  is  written  is  written."  How,  then,  could  Grant  write  that 
Stanton  "cared  nothing  for  the  feelings  of  others  and  it  seemed 
pleasanter  for  him  to  disappoint  than  gratify"? 

Almost  identically  the  same  words  are  used  by  Adam  Badeau, 
p.  81,  in  his  "Grant  in  Peace."  How  did  they  get  also  into  Grant's 
"Memoirs"? 

Stanton's  thoughtfulness  did  not  stop  with  Grant.  Practically 
every  commander  in  the  army  received  from  him  words  of  praise, 
support,  or  cheer  that  were  intended  to  gratify  and  not  disappoint, 
of  which  these  examples,  not  familiar  to  the  public,  and  not  hitherto 
quoted,  will  suffice : 

Washington  City,  September  12,  1862. 
General: 

I  regret  to  learn  that  you  have  been  suffering  from  ill  health  and  hope 
that  you  may  be  speedily  restored  and  so  as  to  return  with  fresh  vigor  and 
strength  to  your  command. 

The  difficulties  under  which  you  were  supposed  to  labor  by  the 
change  of  command  upon  General  Hunter's  being  relieved,  will,  I  trust,  be 
removed  by  the  present  commander  of  the  Department. 

You  have  leave  of  absence  for  twenty  days  until  your  health  is  restored, 
and  will  please  report  to  me  a  few  days  in  advance  of  your  return.  If  you 
need  any  further  instructions,  please  apply   to  the   Department  for  them. 

While  regretting  the  necessity  of  leaving  your  command  without  orders, 
the  circumstances  are  fully  and  satisfactorily  explained,  and  the  most  entire 
confidence  and  regard  are  entertained  for  you  by 

Yours  truly, 

Brigadier-General  Saxton.  Edwm  M.   Stanton. 


Washington,  D.   C,  August  5,  1863. 
Dear  General: 

I  hope  you  are  recovering  from  your  severe  wound.  Of  the  many  gal- 
lant officers  wounded  on  the  great  field  of  Gettysburg,  no  one  has  more 
sincerely  my  sympathy  than  yourself.  We  felt  that  the  blow  that  struck 
you  down  was  a  heavy  and  disastrous  one  to  the  country  but  rejoice  that 
your  life  was  saved  and  that  you  are  not  on  the  list  of  those  whose  loss 
we  deplore.  Yours  truly, 

Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
General  W.  S.  Hancock.  Secretary  of  War. 


GRANT'S  CRITICISMS— INSIDE  HISTORY  381 

Thursday,  November  29,  1864;  9  P.   M. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  have  just  heard  of  Mrs.  Vincent's  illness.  I  congratulate  her  and 
yourself  on  the  birth  of  a  son  and  hope  she  may  be  speedily  restored  to 
health. 

In  the  meantime  you  are  relieved  from  duty  at  the  Department.  *  *  * 
Do  not  trouble  yourself  with  any  business.  The  details  of  organization  for 
Hancock's  corps  can  be  made  out  by  others  and  I  will  so  direct.  Give 
such  orders  as  are  necessary  to  your  chief  clerk  and  remain  at  home  with 
Mrs.  Vincent  until  she  is  out  of  danger. 

Very  truly  yours, 
Colonel  Vincent.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

Gait  House,  Louisville,   Ky.,   October  18,  1863. 
General: 

General  Grant,  who  bears  this  brief  note,  will  thank  you  in  behalf  of 
the  people,  the  War  Department,  and  myself,  for  the  magnificent  behavior 
of  yourself  and  your  gallant  men  at  Chickamauga. 

You  stood  like  a  rock  and  that  stand  gives  you  fame  which  will  grow 
brighter  and  brighter  as  the  ages  go  by.  God  be  praised  for  such  men  at 
such  a  time.     You  will  be  rewarded  by  the  country  and  by  the  Department. 

Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
General  George  H.  Thomas.  Secretary  of  War. 

War  Department,  March  25,  1865;  8:35   P.   M. 
General: 

I  am  very  much  gratified  by  your  energy  in  organizing  and  administer- 
ing the  affairs  of  your  command,  vindicating  my  judgment  in  assigning  you 
to  that  position  that  you  could  not  in  any  other  render  service  so  urgent  and 
valuable  to  the  Government.  For  what  you  have  already  done  you  have 
the  thanks  of  this  Department. 

Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
General  W.  S.  Hancock.  Secretary  of  War. 

Washington,  D.  C,  September  28,  1862;  11  P.  M. 
Dear  General: 

That  Providence  whose  eye  is  upon  the  falling  sparrow  is  saving  you, 
for  the  country  has  great  need  of  you. 

The  President  and  myself  are  overjoyed  by  the  report  of  the  surgeon- 
general  that  your  courage  and  vitality  have  prevented  your  wounds  from 
ending  fatally. 

When  we  called  upon  you  together  you  were  delirious;  thank  God,  you 
are  now  out  of  danger. 

Let  me  know  your  wants  and  wishes;  they  will  be  granted  with  a  re- 
joicing hand. 

Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
General  R.  C  Schenck.  Secretary   of  War. 


382  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

War  Department,  December  20,  1864, 
General  John  A.  Dix, 

New  York: 

Your  suggestion  that  matters  are  in  such  condition  that  you  can  now 
safely  resign,  will  not  be  considered.  I  shall  not  mention  the  matter  to 
the  President. 

Your  steadfastness  and  services  since  January,  1861,  have  been  of 
measureless  value  to  this  Government.  Your  money,  your  great  ability, 
and  your  personal  labors  and  judgment  have  been  freely  given  to  the 
people — so  freely  that  perhaps  you  do  deserve  now  to  retire,  but  I  beg  you 
not  to  think  of  it. 

Help  us  through  to  the  end;  and,  after  peace,  which  I  trust  and  believe 
will  be  eternal,  shall  have  settled  upon  us,  I  expect  to  see  a  grateful  people 
wish  to  seat  you  in  the  presidential  chair. 

With  the  best  wishes  of  my  heart, 

Edwin  M.  Stanton, 

Secretary  of  War. 

To  Major-General  Halleck,  February  8,  1862:  "Your  energy 
and  ability  receive  the  strongest  commendation.  *  *  * 
You  may  rely  upon  the  utmost  support  in  your  undertaking." 

To  General  J.  E.  Wool,  February  22,  1862:  "Accept  my  thanks 
for  your  vigilant  and  faithful  attention.  This  Department  will  sup- 
port you  in  every  particular.  You  have  its  perfect  confidence  and 
respect." 

On  March  18,  1862 :  "Ordered,  [by  Edwin  M.  Stanton]  That  in 
recognition  of  faithful  service  by  a  distinguished  and  gallant  officer, 
the  name  of  the  fort  and  the  ripraps  be  changed  from  Fort  Calhoun 
to  Fort  Wool." 

To  General  James  Shields,  March  26,  1862:  "Your  wounds  as 
well  as  your  success  prove  that  Lander's  brave  division  is  still 
bravely  led  and  that  wherever  its  standard  is  displayed  rebels  will 
be  routed  and  pursued." 

To  General  Burnside,  April  25,  1862:  "Thanks,  congratula- 
tions, and  more  men.     Anything  you  need  or  desire?" 

To  General  Banks,  May  25,  1862:  "Your  gallantry  and  skill 
deserve  the  greatest  praise." 

To  General  G.  W.  Morgan :  "This  Department  is  highly  grati- 
fied with  your  successful  occupation  of  Cumberland  Gap.  Great 
thanks  for  your  diligence  and  activity." 

To  General  O.  M.  Mitchell,  May  5,  1862 :  "No  general  in  the 
field  deserves  better  of  his  country  than  yourself,  and  the  Depart- 
ment rejoices  to  award  credit  to  one  who  merits  it  so  well," 


GRANT'S  CRITICISMS— INSIDE  HISTORY  383 

To  General  W.  S.  Rosecrans,  1862:  "I  desire  to  express  the 
great  satisfaction  which  your  operations  have  given  to  the  Presi- 
dent and  to  the  Department.  *  *  *  There  is  nothing  you  can 
ask  within  my  power  to  grant  to  yourself  and  your  heroic  command 
that  will  not  be  most  cheerfully  given." 

To  C.  A.  Dana,  September  30,  1863 :  "The  merit  of  General 
Thomas  and  the  debt  of  gratitude  the  nation  owes  to  his  valor  and 
skill  are  fully  appreciated  here  and  I  wish  you  to  tell  him  so.  It 
is  not  my  fault  that  he  was  not  in  chief  command  months  ago." 

To  General  W.  T.  Sherman,  March  22,  1865:  "Accept  my 
thanks  for  your  letter.  With  the  whole  country  I  have  been  watch- 
ing in  hope,  confidence,  and  admiration  your  advance  toward  the 
final  conquest  of  the  Rebellion.  *  *  *  j^jy  earnest  prayer  is  that 
Divine  Providence  may  watch  over  you,  shield  you  from  every  dan- 
ger, and  crown  you  with  its  richest  blessings.  *  *  *  God  speed 
you!" 

When  Grant  lay  sick  in  a  hot,  stufify  hotel  in  Washington,  Stan- 
ton wrote  to  General  Halleck,  who,  with  his  family,  was  away  from 
the  capital,  asking  if  he  could  not  offer  the  use  of  his  fine  home  to 
the  invalid.  Halleck  replied  by  telegraph,  "Certainly,"  and  Grant 
accepted  the  refreshing  change  very  gratefully. 

Thus,  it  is  proven  that  Stanton  was  not  only  kind  and  thought- 
ful to  Grant,  but  to  all  other  commanders.  Grant  knew  this  and 
he  also  knew  that  he  was  indebted  to  the  Secretary,  directly  or 
indirectly,  for  every  substantial  promotion  of  his  life  up  to  that  of 
the  presidency. 

"After  returning  from  Louisville,  in  October,  1863,  where  he 
met  Grant  personally  for  the  first  time,"  says  General  M.  C.  Meigs, 
"Secretary  Stanton  frequently  reverted  to  the  General,  saying  he 
liked  him  because  he  'never  complained,  never  disobeyed  orders, 
never  talked  politics,  never  wanted  what  the  Government  could  not 
furnish' — qualities  which  he  characterized  as  the  very  opposite  in 
others  whom  he  named.  He  was  thoroughly  rejoiced  to  meet  a 
commander  who  cared  nothing  for  neck-ties,  drawing-room  frip- 
pery, and  military  tail-feathers,  exclaiming:  'Grant  is  splendid.  He 
takes  secession  by  the  throat,  not,  like  some  of  our  Potomac  milli- 
ners, by  the  tail.'  " 

"At  one  time  there  were  a  great  many  complaints  and  a  power- 
ful military  conspiracy  against  Grant,"  says  Assistant-Secretary  C. 
A.  Dana,  "but  as  he  was  a  fighter  the  Secretary  did  not  care  to 


384  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

bother  with  them.     He  wanted  fighters." 

"Mr.  Stanton  steadfastly  supported  General  Grant,"  says  Gen- 
eral T.  M.  Vincent.  "When  there  were  hostile  demonstrations,  and 
at  one  time  they  were  numerous,  he  neutralized  them.  After  the 
battle  of  Fort  Donelson,  February  16,  1862,  Stanton  made  him 
major-general  of  volunteers ;  after  Vicksburg,  July  4,  1863, 
major-general,  United  States  Army ;  March  2,  1864,  lieutenant-gen- 
eral. United  States  Army ;  March  17,  1864,  general-in-chief ;  July 
25,  1866,  general.  United  States  Army." 

"Mr.  Stanton  persistently  pursued  Grant  with  promotions,  giv- 
ing the  matter  his  personal  attention,"  says  Major  A.  E.  H.  John- 
son, Stanton's  confidential  clerk.  "He  followed  them  to  the  Senate. 
The  man  for  the  exigency  had  appeared,  and  Mr.  Stanton  fairly 
kicked  him  upward  in  the  army." 

General  Lucius  Fairchild  of  Madison,  Wisconsin,  relates  that 
when  he  visited  the  War  Department  a  delegation  was  present 
ahead  of  him  to  ask  for  General  Grant's  removal.  Among  other 
things  the  spokesman  said  :  "Why,  General  Grant  drinks  whiskey."* 
Instantly  Stanton  retorted:  "You  are  mistaken,  sir;  it  is  blood — 
EEBEL  BLOOD!"     The  delegates  withdrew. 

When  Grant  was  running  for  the  presidency  in  1868  Stanton 
with  his  son  Edwin  L.  went  on  the  hustings  in  his  behalf,  and 
everywhere  referred  to  him  as  the  "great  soldier,"  the  "splendid 
captain,"  the  "world's  foremost  commander,"  the  "savior  of  the  Re- 
public," the  "triumphant  leader  of  liberty,"  and  so  on.  At  Cleve- 
land, in  September,  so  weak  and  full  of  suffering  that  he  could  not 
stand  continuously  through  his  speech,  he  said : 

I  ask  you  who  it  was  that  fought  your  battles  and  bore  your  banners 
triumphant  over  Rebellion?  Grant.  Whose  sword  flashed  in  triumph  over 
the  traitors  and  rebels  that  sought  to  overthrow  the  banner  of  your  national 
existence  and  destroy  our  name  from  among  the  nations  of  the  earth? 
Grant's.  We  feel  that  the  ark  of  our  national  safety  rests  upon  the  shoul- 
ders of  Grant.  Was  it  not  so  in  the  hour  of  our  great  struggle?  And  now 
the  same  hand  that  upheld  our  ark  of  safety  in  battle  must  uphold  it  four 
years  longer.  And  I  say  in  conclusion:  Give  to  that  hero  three  cheers  and 
a  tiger!     HURRAH!! 


*Stanton  sent  General  David  Hunter  to  make  an  investigation,  who 
reported:  "Grant  is  modest;  never  swears;  seldom  drinks — only  two  drinks 
in  three  weeks  I  have  been  here;  listens  quietly;  judges  promptly;  thinks 
for  himself;  takes  advantage  of  the  enemy's  errors.  He  was  appointed  not 
an  hour  too  soon  to  save  this  [Shenandoah]  Valley." 


'.'"^   '■■*7>~|fc=r— 


<    u 


ilv: 


\Ma 


ifS. 


GRANT'S  CRITICISMS— lx\SIDE  HISTORY  385 

(e)  Grant's  declaration  that  Stanton  "felt  no  hesitation  in 
assuming  the  functions  of  the  Executive,"  is  equally  strange  and 
untrue.  On  page  403  of  his  testimony  before  the  Impeachment 
Committee,  Stanton  swore  :  "I  made  an  appeal  to  Mr.  Lincoln  not  to 
require  me  to  look  into  matters  outside  of  my  own  Department  un- 
less it  was  absolutely  necessary.  My  time  was  all  occupied  in 
carrying  on  the  war,  and  I  had  no  opportunity  to  busy  myself  about 
matters  not  coming  especially  under  my  charge." 

Thus,  instead  of  being  an  usurper  of  executive  authority,  his 
active  aid  and  advice  concerning  general  matters  of  administration 
were  so  much  sought  by  Lincoln  that  Stanton  begged  to  be  per- 
mitted to  confine  himself  more  strictly  to  the  duties  of  his  own  De- 
partment. 

Just  before  the  assassination  Stanton  advised  Lincoln  that  the 
work  for  which  he  had  accepted  office  being  finished  and  his  health 
shattered,  he  wished  to  resign.  "Tearing  in  pieces  the  paper  con- 
taining the  resignation,"  says  Carpenter's  "Six  Months  in  the  White 
House,"  "and  throwing  his  arms  about  the  Secretary's  neck,  the 
President  said :  'You  have  been  a  good  friend  and  a  faithful  servant, 
and  it  is  not  for  you  to  say  when  your  services  are  no  longer  needed.' 
Several  friends  of  both  parties  were  present  and  there  was  not  a  dry 
eye  that  witnessed  the  scene." 

Do  these  things  seem  to  prove  that  Stanton  was  an  usurper? 
Is  it  not  remarkable  that  the  charge  of  usurpation  should  come 
from  one  who,  busy  with  field  operations  hundreds  of  miles  away, 
knew  nothing  of  the  facts  and  could  not  be  concerned  personally 
or  officially  in  those  usurpations  or  even  know  of  them,  if  there 
had  been  any? 

(f)  The  insinuation  that  Stanton  was  a  coward  ("very  timid") 
is  certainly  curious.  He  was  notoriously  the  opposite.  From' 
youth  he  was  a  fearless  striker,  staking  everything,  life  itself,  for 
success.  At  eighteen,  during  the  cholera  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  he 
risked  his  life  for  a  young  woman  acquaintance  who  was  soon  to  be 
married  to  another;  at  twenty-five,  he  jeopardized  his  life  for  his 
client  in  a  murder  trial  at  Cadiz ;  later,  he  hazarded  his  life  and 
limb  (sustaining  an  injury  from  which  he  never  recovered)  while 
securing  evidence  that  would  be  incontrovertible  in  the  great  Wheel- 
ing Bridge  Case ;  as  Buchanan's  attorney-general,  he  grappled  with 
secession  single-handed,  throwing  its  leaders  out  of  the  cabinet  and 
lashing  the  President  himself  to  the  mast ;  as  secretary  of  war  under 


386  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Lincoln  he  lost  no  opportunity  to  urge  a  forward  movement,  or  a 
battle,  or  personally  to  strike  a  telling  blow,  as  Grant  was  well 
aware. 

(g)  "It  was  impossible  for  Stanton  to  avoid  interfering  with 
the  armies  covering  the  capital  when  it  was  sought  to  defend  it  by 
an  offensive  movement  against  the  army  guarding  the  Confederate 
capital,"  says  the  "Memoirs." 

To  thoroughly  protect  the  nation's  capital  was  the  highest 
form  of  military  statesmanship.  Throughout  the  Rebellion,  from 
the  moment  Davis  was  inaugurated  "president"  (February,  1861), 
the  darling  plan  of  the  secessionists  was  to  capture  the  Federal  capi- 
tal and,  until  General  Godfrey  Weitzel  entered  Richmond  in  April, 
1865,  their  leaders  always  entertained  a  hope  of  ultimate  success. 
The  Confederacy  fell  when  Richmond  (its  capital)  fell.  Had  the 
Confederates  captured  Washington,  with  its  wealth  of  records,  ar- 
chives, documents,  and  financial  treasures — including  the  chief  of- 
ficers of  the  nation — the  first  result  would  have  been  foreign  recog- 
nition. England  had  already  informed  the  Confederate  commission- 
ers in  London  that  the  Confederacy  must  strike  a  more  decided  blow 
be'fore  their  States  could  be  recognized  as  an  independent  nation. 
Edward  de  Stoeckl,  the  Russian  minister  in  Washington,  stated  at  a 
dinner  that  he  would  have  recognized  the  Confederate  States  if 
they  had  captured  the  city,  as  was  expected,  after  the  first  battle  of 
Manassas.  The  French  minister,  Marquis  de  Montholon  (son  of 
the  marshal  who  accompanied  Napoleon  to  St.  Helena)  confirmed 
Baron  de  Stoeckl's  statement. 

Thus,  there  were  the  weightiest  of  reasons  for  Stanton  to  save 
the  capital  at  all  hazards.  There  must  be  a  head  to  everything  that 
is  successful.  The  Northern  head  was  at  Washington,  and  from 
that  head  Grant  himself  was  drawing  his  salary,  supplies,  arms, 
men,  promotions,  thanks,  and  gold  medals.  There  Congress  met, 
there  the  Supreme  Court  sat  in  judgment,  and  there  were  enthroned 
his  superiors,  Lincoln  and  Stanton.  It  was  vitally  necessary,  there- 
fore, not  only  to  protect  that  head,  but  insure  in  absolute  safety  a 
stable  government  to  sustain  Grant  and  his  generals  and  their  arm- 
ies in  the  work  of  suppressing  the  Rebellion. 

But  after  he  became  general-in-chief  Grant  himself  and  not 
Stanton  had  absolute  control  of  the  disposition  of  troops  about 
Washington,  and  the  official  records  prove  that  he  was  not  inter- 
fered with  in  any  form  whatever.  In  response  to  a  letter  from  Lin- 
coln, Grant  wrote  as  follows  on  May  1,  1864: 


Gen.  Joseph  Hooker. 


GRANT'S  CRITICISMS— INSIDE  HISTORY  387 

From  my  first  entrance  into  the  volunteer  service  of  the  country  to  the 
present  day  1  have  never  had  cause  of  complaint;  have  never  expressed  or 
implied  a  complaint  against  the  administration  or  the  Secretary  of  War  for 
throwing  any  embarrassment  in  the  v^'ay  of  my  vigorously  prosecuting  what 
seemed  to  be  my  duty.  Indeed,  since  the  promotion  which  placed  me  in 
command  of  all  the  armies,  and  in  view  of  the  great  responsibility  and  the 
importance  of  success,  I  have  been  astonished  at  the  readiness  with  which 
everything  asked  for  has  been  yielded  without  even  an  explanation  being 
asked. 

Either  Grant  was  not  being  and  had  not  been  "interfered"  with 
by  Stanton,  or  in  the  above  he  was  writing  falsely  to  Lincoln. 
Either  Grant's  "Memoirs"  are  false  or  his  letter  is  false.  Stanton 
confirms  the  truth  of  the  letter  and  th^  falsity  61  the  "Memoirs"  in 
a  letter  of  July  20,  1864,  to  Governor  Smith  of  Vermont,  thus: 

Your  telegram  of  this  date  has  been  received.  The  Department  can- 
not yet  determine  what  troops  will  be  retained  near  Washington.  The 
disposition  of  the  forces  is  in  the  province  of  Lieutenant-General  Grant. 
So  far  as  I  can  influence  his  action  I  shall  be  happy  to  conform  to  your 
wishes  in  regard  to  the  Vermont  brigade.  I  had  a  conversation  on  the 
subject  this  morning  with  Mr.  Baxter  of  your  State,  but  for  obvious  rea- 
sons no  assurance  can  at  present  be  given  further  than  to  recommend  it 
to  General  Grant's  favorable  consideration. 

But  let  Grant  finish  the  demolition  of  Grant.  One  night  Stan- 
ton wrote  to  Senator  B.  F,  Wade,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Conduct  of  the  War,  and  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson  took  the  note  to 
his  rooms,  suggesting  that  before  closing  the  hearings  Generals 
Grant  and  Meade  also  be  summoned  and  questioned  as  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  War  Department  had  furnished  men,  munitions, 
facilities,  and  supplies  for  the  great  armies.  The  suggestion  was 
acted  upon  and  Grant,  on  May  18,  1865,  testified  as  follows : 

Q. — In  what  manner  has  Mr.  Stanton,  the  secretary  of  war,  performed 
his  duties  in  the  supply  of  the  armies  and  support  of  military  operations? 

Ans. — Admirably.  There  have  been  no  complaints.  So  far  as  he  is 
concerned,  there  has  been  no  ground  for  complaint. 

Q. — Has  there  ever  been  any  misunderstanding  with  regard  to  the 
conduct  of  the  war,  in  any  particular,  between  yourself  and  the  Secretary 
of  War? 

Ans. — Never — none  ever  expressed  to  me.  I  never  had  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  any  fault  was  found  with  anything  I  had  done.  So  far  as  the 
Secretary  of  War  and  myself  are  concerned,  he  has  never  interfered  with  my 
duties;  never  thrown  any  obstacles  in  the  way  of  any  supplies  I  have  called  for; 


388  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

never  dictated  a  course  of  campaign  to  me;  never  inquired  what  I  was  going  to  do. 
He  has  always  seemed  satisfied  with  what  I  did,  and  has  always  heartily  co- 
operated with  me. 

Thus  Grant  himself  under  oath  testified  that  Stanton  did  not 
"interfere  with  his  armies  guarding  the  capital,"  and  that  is  the 
fact,  and  the  contrary  statement  in  the  "Memoirs"  is  not  fact. 

However,  the  most  peculiar  fact  that  rises  up  to  cry  out  against 
the  injustice  of  Grant's  criticism  is  a  part  of  Grant's  own  experience 
at  this  period.  The  only  time  Stanton  did  not  provide  for  the  safety 
of  Washington  according  to  his  own  ideas  was  when  he  sent  every 
available  man  from  its  defense  to  Grant  himself,  then  operating 
before  Petersburg,  and  thereby  came  within  a  hair's  breadth  of  sac- 
rificing the  capital ! 

He  felt  that  he  was  making  a  mistake,  but  Grant  wanted  men 
and  he  sent  them.  Lee,  in  July,  1864,  seeing  this  weakness  on  the 
Potomac,  directed  General  Early  to  capture  Washington.  Early 
arrived  almost  within  pistol-shot  of  the  White  House,  and  would 
have  taken  the  city  if  he  had  not  delayed  his  final  attack.  General 
Lew  Wallace,  with  a  handful  of  intrepid  Maryland  militia,  threw 
himself  upon  Early,  and,  although  repulsed,  so  demoralized  the  Con- 
federates by  the  vigor  of  his  charge,  that  they  were  delayed  a  day 
in  the  proposed  march  into  Washington,  which  they  could  have  ac- 
complished easily.  On  the  following  day,  seeing  before  him  the 
cross  of  the  Sixth  Army  Corps,  which  Grant  had  hastily  forwarded. 
Early  turned  and  fled,  leaving  his  wounded  behind. 

Thus,  in  the  case  of  Grant  himself  is  demonstrated  the  wisdom 
of  Stanton's  resolute  determination  to  preserve  the  seat  of  Govern- 
ment in  safety  as  well  as  the  folly  of  Grant's  criticism  of  that  de- 
termination.    On  this  vital  point  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson  says : 

It  was  the  wonder  of  the  President  and  of  Stanton  at  this  time  that 
Grant  seemed  oblivious  to  the  danger  of  Washington  until  it  was  almost 
too  late,  for  it  was  only  at  the  last  moment  that  he  sent  troops  from  the 
James  by  water  to  save  the  city.  The  President  was  in  great  alarm  and  Mr. 
Stanton  told  me  to  take  to  my  home  the  bonds  and  gold  (about  $6,000)  I  had 
in  the  War  Department  safe  belonging  to  Mrs.  Stanton,  and  I  kept  them 
under  my  bed.  Colonel  Stager,  superintendent  of  the  Military  Telegraph, 
seeing  the  danger,  asked  Mr.  Stanton  for  leave  to  go  home  for  a  few  days 
and  was  refused  with  the  reply:  "We  must  all  leave  soon  unless  relief 
comes." 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  during  this  alarming  time  Mr.  Stanton  did 
not  send  a  single   telegram  to   Grant,  but   President    Lincoln   told   him   to 


GRANTS  CRITICISMS— INSIDE  HISTORY  389 

come  to  Washington  with  all  the  troops  he  could  bring,  after  having  made 
his  position  secure.  Mr.  Stanton  made  no  demand  on  Grant  for  protec- 
tion; he  sent  him  no  telegrams  for  troops,  but  he  called  loudly  upon  the 
governors  for  help  or  the  capital  would  be  lost,  thus  showing  not  only  a 
marvelous  regard  for  Grant  but  his  own  inexhaustible  resources. 

(h)  "The  enemy  ivoiild  not  have  been  in  danger  if  Mr.  Stanton  had 
been  in  the  Held,"  is  the  concluding  sentence  of  the  paragraph  quoted 
from  page  573  of  Grant's  "Memoirs." 

From  the  moment  he  entered  the  cabinet  Stanton  exerted  every 
power  of  the  Government  to  furnish  men  and  means  to  his  generals. 
Not  only  so,  but  he  created  a  fleet  of  gun-boats  which  drove  the  in- 
surgent navy  down  the  Mississippi  and  captured  Memphis ;  pro- 
vided means  to  destroy  the  dreaded  Merrimac ;  went  in  person  to 
blockade  the  James  and  capture  Norfolk,  and  rescued  Rosecrans  at 
Chattanooga  by  a  bold  and  energetic  stratagem  not  thought  of  or 
deemed  possible  of  execution  by  others. 

His  own  plans  were  not  only  admirable  from  a  military  stand- 
point and  executed  with  great  energy,  but  they  were  decisive  in 
averting  or  retrieving  national  disasters  brought  about  by  the  fail- 
ures or  inactivity  of  his  generals.  He  acted  after  all  about  him  had 
failed,  and  with  supreme  success. 

Adjutant-General  Townsend,  a  thoughtful  and  faithful  Chris- 
tian and  a  competent  and  experienced  militarist,  writes : 

I  consider  the  insinuation  conveyed  in  the  sentence  "the  enemy  would 
not  have  been  in  danger  if  Mr.  Stanton  had  been  in  the  field,"  as  a  gratui- 
tous and  base  attempt  to  throw  contumely  on  the  memory  of  a  great  man. 
It  means  either  that  Mr.  Stanton  was  a  coward  or  had  not  the  talent  to 
conduct  a  military  campaign. 

In  the  first  place,  emphatically,  Mr.  Stanton  was  no  coward.  In  the 
second  place,  if  he  had  made  military  science  an  active  business,  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  his  habit  of  going  to  the  bottom  of  whatever 
subject  he  had  to  deal  with  would  have  enabled  him  to  arrange  all  details 
so  as  to  make  him  a  power  in  directing  military  movements.  The  most 
successful  general  is  the  one  who  skilfully  and  carefully  prepares  his  army 
with  food,  ammunition,  etc.,  ascertains  the  topography  of  his  field  of  opera- 
tions; knows  the  enemy's  strength,  quality,  and  position  and,  in  short,  him- 
self attends  to  all  essential  details  and  then  strikes  with  vigor,  and  strikes 
again  with  more  vigor. 

This  Mr.  Stanton  would  have  done.    This  he  always  did. 

The  flings  at  Mr.  Stanton  found  in  the  second  volume  of  Grant's 
"Memoirs,"  I  must  say  do  not  sound  like  Grant.  As  I  read  them  they  ex- 
cited keen  regrets  that  so  remarkable  a  book  should  be  scarred  in  so  painful 
a  manner. 


390  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Thus,  considerable  space  is  taken  to  refute  seriatim  certain 
misstatements  appearing  in  the  so-called  "Personal  Memoirs  of 
Ulysses  Simpson  Grant."  Grant's  great  name  and  the  faith  of  the 
people  in  the  absolute  purity  of  fiis  motives  and  the  reliability  of  his 
utterances  render  such  a  course  unavoidable.  The  fact  is,  however, 
that  Grant  never  wrote,  saw,  or  inspired  those  falsehoods. 

On  Thursday,  July  2,  1885,  three  weeks  before  his  death,  he 
handed  to  Dr.  Douglas,  one  of  his  physicians,  a  very  remarkable 
paper  in  which  he  stated  that,  in  his  condition,  "life  was  not  worth 
living,"  adding:  "I  am  thankful  to  have  been  spared  this  long,  be- 
cause it  has  enabled  me  to  practically  complete  the  work  [less  than 
one  volume]  in  which  I  take  so  much  interest.  I  cannot  stir  up 
strength  enough  to  review  it  and  make  the  additions  and  substitu- 
tions that  would  suggest  themselves  to  me  but  not  to  any  one  else." 

On  this  point  the  testimony  of  Colonel  N.  E.  Dawson  of  Wash- 
ington, for  years  Grant's  confidential  secretary,  is  very  important. 
He  says : 

Some  weeks  before  the  General's  death,  seeing  that  he  could  not 
long  survive,  we  set  about  finishing  his  "Memoirs"  and  adding  notes  and 
dates  which  had  been  omitted,  consulting  and  relying  on  such  books  and 
documents  as  he  had  indicated. 

On  completing  this  work  I  announced  my  readiness  to  read  the  draft 
to  him  for  his  correction  and  approval.  He  seemed  very  much  pleased 
to  know  that  the  work  was  done,  but  said  he  was  weak  and  would  not 
begin  reading  until  morning. 

The  following  day  found  him  weaker  instead  of  stronger,  and  suffering 
deeply;  and  so  did  each  succeeding  day  thereafter  till  the  end  came,  and 
the  reading  neirr  took  place. 

After  his  death  the  publishers  were  in  a  rush  for  the  manuscript,  and  it 
was  sent  oflF  in  an  irresponsible  sort  of  way  without  any  one  in  authority 
realizing  that  it  contained  statements  which  I  know  the  General  would  not 
have  permitted  to  go  to  the  public  and  which  reflect  no  sentiments  that  he 
ever  entertained. 

Thus  we  see  that  Grant  not  only  never  wrote  the  untruths  that 
appear  in  his  "Memoirs"  concerning  Stanton,  and  never  saw  them, 
but  that  they  "reflect  no  sentiment  he  ever  entertained" ! 

When  the  minds  of  the  people  are  poisoned  by  the  circulation 
of  slanders  in  the  name  of  one  so  great  as  Grant,  who  can  refrain 
from  expressing  disgust  at  the  general  rottenness  of  much  that  is 
extant  as  "history"? 


CHAPTER  LXVL 
HEROIC  POLITICS  —  GREAT  SPEECHES  FOR  GRANT. 

In  Buchanan's  cabinet,  although  a  Democrat,  Stanton  con- 
stantly advised  with  the  Republican  leaders  because  he  had  found 
too  many  of  his  own  party  embroiled  in  secession ;  and  when  Lin- 
coln succeeded  to  the  presidency,  he  denounced  the  partisan  trend 
which  the  new  administration  was  giving  to  the  management  of  the 
war.  His  letters  to  Judge  Barlow  emphatically  opposed  making 
General  McClellan,  just  taking  the  field,  the  leader  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and,  while  the  insurrection  continued,  he  demanded 
that  loyal  men  only,  regardless  of  political  belief,  be  appointed  or 
elected  to  office. 

Generals  Grant,  Sheridan,  and  Butler — all  war  Democrats — ■ 
testify  that  Stanton  more  than  once  urged  upon  them  the  necessity 
of  military  success  in  order  to  favorably  influence  on-coming  elec- 
tions, and  he  never  failed  to  contribute  to  the  defeat  of  candidates 
not  known  to  be  in  sympathy  with  the  war.  In  1863  he  wanted  the 
Union  forces  of  Pennsylvania  to  nominate  General  W.  S.  Hancock 
for  governor,  but  Governor  A.  G.  Curtin  was  not  only  renominated 
but  secured  such  thorough  control  of  the  convention  that  a  resolu- 
tion endorsing  Stanton  was  rejected  with  a  roar  of  hostility. 

Later  the  Democrats  met  and  nominated  Judge  G.  W.  Wood- 
ward (who  had  declared  from  the  bench  that  the  draft  was  uncon- 
stitutional) to  oppose  Curtin.  Thereupon,  the  cry  being  that  "a 
vote  for  Woodward  is  a  vote  for  McClellan,"  McClellan  being  al- 
ready in  the  field  for  the  presidency  and  supporting  Woodward, 
Stanton  rallied  the  enormous  influence  of  his  Department  in  favor  of 
Curtin  and  helped  to  give  him  a  great  majority. 

In  June,  1864,  the  administration  forces  renominated  Lincoln  at 
Baltimore,  but  defeat  at  the  polls  was  for  some  time  anticipated  by 
Lincoln  and  nearly  everybody  else  except  Stanton. 

The  convention  adopted  a  platform  demanding  the  retirement 
of  any  cabinet  officer  not  in  accord  with  the  ruling  elements  of  the 
administration — a  direct  blow,  it  was  alleged,  at  Postmaster-Gen- 


392  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

eral  Blair.  But  as  Lincoln  did  not  act  on  that  demand ;  as  the  en- 
tire influence  of  the  South,  through  disunionists  in  the  North,  was 
exerted  in  behalf  of  McClellan  (who  had,  in  the  meantime,  been 
nominated  for  the  presidency  by, the  Democrats)  and  as  the  radical 
party  of  the  North  had  nominated  General  John  C.  Fremont  for 
president  and  General  John  Cochrane  for  vice-president,  the  admin- 
istration ticket  seemed  to  be  in  danger  of  defeat.  At  this  moment 
the  following  letter  was  sent  to  seventeen  loyal  governors : 

Private  and  Confidential.  New  York,  September  2,  18G4. 

Your  Excellency: 

The  undersigned  have  been  requested  by  an  influential  body  of 
Unionists  to  communicate  with  the  loyal  governors  for  the  purpose  of 
eliciting  replies  to  the  following  queries; 

1.  In  your  judgment  is  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  a  probability? 

2.  In  your  judgment  can  your  State  be  carried  for  Mr.  Lincoln? 

3.  In  your  judgment  do  the  interests  of  the  Union  party  and  of  the 
country  require  the  substitution  of  another  candidate  in  place  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln? 

In  making  these  inquiries  we  express  no  opinion  of  our  own  and  request 
yours  only  for  the  most  private  and  confidential  use. 

Yours  truly, 
Horace  Greeley,  Editor  of  the  Tribune. 
Park  Godwin,  Editor  of  the  Evening  Post. 
Theodore  Tilton,  Editor  of  the  Independent. 

Several,  probably  a  majority,  of  the  war  governors  thus  ad- 
dressed, communicated  with  Stanton  before  replying.  His  advice 
was  prompt  and  decisive,  as  his  letter  to  Governor  J.  Gregory  Smith 
of  Vermont,  attests : 

In  replying  to  yours  of  the  6th  enclosing  the  circular  of  Messrs.  Greeley, 
Godwin,  and  Tilton  asking  my  opinion  thereon,  I  have  no  hesitation 
in  declaring  that  the  only  promise  of  success  in  November  lies  in  a  clear 
field  and  an  undivided  North  for  President  Lincoln.  This  is  no  time  to 
discuss  his  mistakes,  and  whatever  they  may  be  thought  to  have  been, 
any  other  person  as  president  probably  would  have  made  as  many  or  more. 
The  Union  cannot  be  saved  by  dividing  its  support,  a  fact  which  ought  to 
be  as  patent  to  Greeley,  et  al,  as  it  is  to  our  enemies. 

A  majority  of  the  governors  replied  to  the  Greeley-Godwin- 
Tilton  letter  along  the  line  indicated  in  Stanton's  communication ; 
Lincoln  (on  September  23)  called  on  Blair  to  resign  and  Fremont 
and  Cochrane  withdrew,  the  latter  taking  the  hustings  with  great 
efifect  against  McClellan. 


William  Whiting, 
Solicitor,  War  Department. 


Gen.  Edward  D.  Townsend, 
Assistant  Adjutant-General 


GREAT  SPEECHES  FOR  GRANT  393 

During  the  campaign,  insurgent  agents  in  the  North  laid  plans 
to  bring  deserters  from  Canada  and  enemies  from  the  South  to  New 
York  and  other  large  cities  where  fires  were  to  be  set  and  other  des- 
perate disturbances  put  afoot  on  election  day  with  the  expectation 
of  so  distracting  public  attention  that  the  election  of  McClellan 
could  be  accomplished  by  stuffing  ballot  boxes  and  other  frauds. 

Stanton,  fully  informed  of  these  plans,  sent  military  reinforce- 
ments to  New  York  and  elsewhere ;  swore  in  thousands  of  extra 
marshals,  and  took  such  other  precautions  that  the  plot  was  wholly 
thwarted.  Provost-Marshal-General  Fry  states,  and  so  does  C.  A. 
Dana,  that  Stanton  carried  the  election  for  Lincoln,  and  insisted 
from  the  first  that  he  would  do  so. 

As  soon  as  that  result  had  been  accomplished,  Grant  sent  a  tele- 
gram of  congratulation  to  Stanton,  and  S.  P.  Chase,  who  left  the 
cabinet  in  July,  also  sent  a  congratulatory  note,  to  which  he  received 
this  reply,  dated  November  19,  1864: 

My  Dear  Friend: 

Your  welcome  note  found  me  in  bed,  where  I  have  been  for  some 
days.  It  came  with  healing  on  its  wings,  for  I  am  in  a  condition  in  which 
nothing  can  serve  me  better  than  the  voice  of  a  friend,  and  of  no  friend 
more  eflfectively  tham  yourself. 

I  am  better  now  and  again  at  work,  but  with  feeble  and  broken  health 
that  can  only  be  restored  by  absolute  rest  from  all  labor  and  care.  This 
I  long  for  and  hope  soon  to  have.  Our  cause  is  now,  I  hope,  beyond  all 
danger,  and  when  Grant  goes  into  Richmond,  my  task  is  ended.  To  you 
and  others  it  will  remain  to  restore  the  fruits  of  victory  and  see  that  they 
do  not  turn  to  ashes. 

Thus  is  the  fact  again  declared  from  within  that  Stanton  cared 
nothing  for  political  or  official  power  and  remained  in  public  service 
only  for  the  purpose  of  crushing  the  insurrection  and  restoring  the 
Union. 

"His  position  was  very  trying,"  says  General  Grant,  "there 
being  so  many  politicians  in  the  army  and  so  many  military  men 
among  politicians,  each  trying  to  swerve  the  movements  of  the 
other.  I  have  always  thought  he  managed  that  difficult  combina- 
tion well — better  than  it  could  have  been  done  by  any  other  man  of 
the  day." 

"Although  Mr.  Stanton  despised  politics,"  says  Charles  A. 
Dana,  "he  was  altogether  the  best  politician  in  the  Lincoln  adminis- 
tration. He  fully  understood  the  temper  of  the  masses ;  knew  what 
fruit  each  act  would  bear  and  looked  to  the  possible  consequences 


394  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

of  every  step  before  it  was  taken.  Still,  he  kept  partisanship  thor- 
oughly out  of  the  War  Department  and  used  politics  and  politicians 
only  to  help  the  Government." 

In  1866  he  was  instrumental  in  calling  two  great  conventions 
in  Pittsburg  and  Philadelphia  to  counteract  two  mass-meetings  as- 
sembled by  President  Johnson  to  advocate  "My  Policy,"  and  they 
•were  remarkably  successful. 

In  July,  1868,  the  Democrats  held  a  "Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Con- 
vention" in  New  York  simultaneously  with  their  national  conven- 
tion which  nominated  Horatio  Seymour  for  president.  The  former 
convention,  of  which  General  W.  B.  Franklin  (one  of  McClellan's 
closest  friends)  was  chairman,  unanimously  adopted,  under  suspen- 
sion of  the  rules,  the  following  anti-Stanton  resolution : 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  convention  and  of  all  patriotic 
and  right-minded  citizens  are  due  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  for 
the  removal  of  E.  M.  Stanton  from  the  War  Department  of  the  Government, 
a  position  which  the  said  Stanton  has  disgraced  and  dishonored  ever  since 
his  appointment  to  that  office  by  his  many  acts  of  cruelty  (both  to  the 
Union  and  Confederate  soldiers)  and  by  his  official  acts  of  tyranny,  and 
that  soldiers  should  on  all  occasions  meet  him  with  the  same  feelings  of 
outraged  dignity  and  patriotism  that  he  was  received  with  on  that  ever 
memorable  occasion  in  the  city  of  Washington  from  the  great  and  gracious 
soldier,  General  W.  T.  Sherman. 

Resolutions  of  this  malevolent  character,  together  with  the  in- 
tense activity  of  the  South — eight  of  the  insurrectionary  States  be- 
ing back  in  the  Union  with  voting  power — gave  Stanton  much  anx- 
iety. He  feared  that  what  had  been  gained  with  the  bayonet 
might  be  lost  through  the  ballot.  Therefore,  when  Seymour  began 
traveling  back  and  forth  advising  the  people  to  vote  for  him  because 
the  war  debt  was  large  and  taxes  high,  Stanton  shouted  his  pro- 
tests with  vehement  and  lofty  eloquence. 

Although  too  feeble  to  stand  during  an  entire  address,  he 
opened  the  Grant  campaign  in  his  native  city  of  Steubenville  on 
September  25,  to  an  immense  concourse  of  people,  and  spoke  as 
Charles  A.  Dana  says,  "with  a  lift  of  imagination,  and  a  grandeur  of 
ideas  that  made  his  language  glow  like  fire." 

General  Grant  stands  this  day  before  you  the  foremost  military  com- 
mander of  the  world,  with  peace  for  his  watchword.  Why  should  he  not 
be  elected?  What  reason  has  any  lover  of  his  country  for  not  voting  for 
him? 


GREAT  SPEECHES  FOR  GRANT  395 

If  there  is  a  man  among  you  who  would  blot  from  the  page  of  history 
the  story  of  our  great  achievements,  let  such  a  man  say,  "I  had  no  share 
in  those  triumphs;  I  vote  against  General  Grant."  If  there  is  a  man  among 
you  that  would  compel  the  Armies  of  the  Potomac,  of  the  James,  of  the 
Tennessee,  to  be  again  gathered  and  to  surrender  as  prisoners  of  war  to 
Lee,  Johnston,  Beauregard,  and  Pillow,  let  him  vote  against  General  Grant. 
If  there  is  a  man  among  you  who  would  reverse  the  order  of  history  and 
bring  upon  you  a  reproach  and  shame  never  before  visited  upon  a  nation 
of  the  earth,  would  have  a  commander  of  the  United  States  armies  deliver 
up  his  sword,  humbly  bowing  before  the  rebel  commanders,  let  that  man 
vote  against  Grant,  and  never  again  call  himself  an  American  citizen.  If 
there  is  a  man  among  you  who  would  desire  to  see,  whose  eyeballs  would 
not  burn  like  fire  to  see  upon  the  portico  of  the  capital,  Lee,  Preston,  and 
Pillow,  with  the  Confederate  army  around  them;  if  there  is  a  man  who 
would  see  this  and  would  see  them  win  in  the  New  York  convention  the 
battles  they  lost  in  the  South,  let  such  a  man  vote  against  Grant  and  go  to 
Washington  on  the  4th  of  March  next  and  behold  the  Government  turned 
over  to  the  rebels. 

Although  so  wrenched  and  exhausted  by  asthma  that  he  could 
sit  up  only  a  portion  of  the  day,  he  spoke  in  Cleveland  on  October 
9,  more  especially  to  foreign-born  voters. 

His  address  occupied  only  about  thirty-five  minutes,  but  his 
earnestness  was  irresistible.  Several  times  during  the  delivery, 
paroxysms  of  asthma  so  choked  him  that  he  was  compelled  to 
support  himself  from  falling  by  a  small  table  standing  near ;  yet, 
to  the  astonishment  of  the  great  audience,  he  took  no  notice  of  these 
attacks,  but  was  lost  in  the  effort  to  convince  his  hearers  that  it  was 
the  solemn  duty  of  every  citizen  to  vote  for  Grant.  Stopping  to 
rest  a  moment,  he  requested  the  presiding  officer  to  read  Lincoln's 
Gettysburg  speech.  At  its  conclusion  he  sprang  forward  and  ex- 
claimed : 

That  is  the  voice  of  God  speaking  through  the  lips  of  Abraham  Lincoln! 
Let  that  noble  speech  reach  the  extremities  of  this  great  crowd.  I  mean 
that  you  shall  hear  it;  I  mean  that  you  shall  adopt  its  sentiment  and  de- 
clare yourselves  now.  You  hear  the  voice  of  Father  Abraham  here  to-night. 
Did  he  die  in  vain?  Shall  we  not  dedicate  ourselves  to  the  work  he  left 
unfinished?  Let  us  here,  every  one,  with  uplifted  hand,  declare  before  Al- 
mighty God  that  the  precious  gift  of  this  great  heritage,  consecrated  in  the 
blood  of  our  soldiers,  shall  never  perish  from  the  earth!  Now  [uplifting 
his  hands]  all  hands  to  God!     I  SWEAR  IT! 

The  audience,  with  uplifted  hands,  rose  and  took  the  oath  with 
Stanton — swore  to  vote  for  Grant  and  dedicate  their  efforts  to  the 
task  left  unfinished  by  the  martyred  Lincoln !  It  was  a  sensational 
and  heroic  scene,  and  created  a  wide  and  profound  impression. 


396  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

A  particularly  hard  campaign  was  being  waged  against  General 
R.  C.  Schenck,  a  candidate  for  reelection  to  Congress,  so  Stanton 
addressed  a  throng  of  people  in  his  behalf  at  Carlisle,  Ohio.  Speak- 
ing of  the  plan  of  repudiating  the  war  debt,  which  some  of  his  op- 
ponents had  advocated,  he  said : 

Now,  talk  to  such  people  about  interest  and  about  repudiation!  Get  the 
financiers  of  Wall  Street,  or  any  other  street  outside  of  Hades  to  cipher 
up  how  much  the  widow's  son  was  worth;  how  much  the  father's  boy  was 
worth!  If  we  repudiate,  let  us  repudiate  all.  Let  us  level  the  graves  of  our 
dead  soldiers;  let  us  blot  their  memories  from  the  family  Bible;  let  us  not 
have  them  prayed  for  at  the  fireside,  nor  in  the  church,  nor  remember  them 
on  the  days  of  their  birth,  nor  the  days  that  are  still  held  sacred  all  over 
the  land! 

At  Pittsburg,  on  October  29,  he  met  an  ovation.  The  city 
turned  out  en  masse  to  welcome  him.  His  speech,  occupying  forty- 
five  minutes,  aroused  the  greatest  enthusiasm. 

From  Pittsburg  he  hastened  to  Philadelphia  to  reply  to  Sey- 
mour's closing  effort,  which  he  did  on  Saturday,  October  31.  That 
speech,  as  interesting  reading  as  these  pages  contain,  is  in  part,  as 
follows : 

Governor  Seymour  has  said  that  our  great  war  expenditures  were  un- 
reasonable, yet  he  shows  no  other  way  in  which  the  Rebellion  could  have 
been  put  down.  The  inference,  therefore,  is  irresistible  that  he  desired 
that  the  Rebellion  should  not  be  put  down,  and  that  every  drop  of  blood 
shed,  and  every  dollar  expended  he  regrets  as  a  waste  and  extravagance  on 
the  part  of  the  Government. 

What  item  of  the  three  billions  of  money  expended  to  put  down  this 
Rebellion  has  Seymour  shown,  or  pretended  to  show,  was  unreasonable?  He 
has  indeed  specified  one  item,  one  solitary  item — misconduct  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  War.  To  find  anything  else  I  have  performed  the  task — and  still 
live — of  reading  all  of  his  speeches. 

Now  what  was  the  policy  of  the  Secretary  of  War — for  his  policy  and 
that  of  Horatio  Seymour  were  directly  and  diametrically  opposed  to  each 
other?  It  was  to  pursue  the  enemy  to  the  last  extremity;  it  was  to  smite 
him  wherever  he  was  to  be  found;  by  day  and  by  night  it  was  to  carry 
forward  the  flag  of  the  United  States  and  to  trample  under  foot  the  flag  of 
the  rebels;  to  stand  by  Abraham  Lincoln  to  the  last;  by  day  and  by  night 
to  be  at  his  side,  to  uphold  his  arms,  to  encourage  him  in  his  efforts  toward 
the  cause  of  liberty,  to  strengthen  him  and  support  him  in  his  hostility  to 
the  enemy,  and,  above  all,  to  convince  him  that  upon  the  rock  of  emanci- 
pation we  must  build  our  safety. 

That  was  the  policy  of  the  Secretary  of  War!  It  is  true,  as  Horatio 
Seymour  declares,  that  if  that  policy  had  not  been  pursued,  this  war  would 


GREAT  SPEECHES  FOR  GRANT  397 

have  been  brought  to  a  speedier  close.  But  how?  By  the  overthrow  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  by  the  triumph  of  the  rebels,  by  the 
success  of  treason,  by  the  destruction  of  the  cause  of  liberty  in  this  land 
and  all  over  the  earth.  And  by  the  blessing  of  God,  Seymour's  policy  was 
not  adopted  and  mine  was. 

As  to  the  accusations  against  the  Secretary  of  War,  I  rejoice  in  them. 
I  would  bind  them  upon  the  brows  of  my  children,  as  did  the  Jews  of  old, 
and  would  leave  them  no  other  fortune  than  to  have  written  on  my 
tomb:    "This  man  fought  the  rebels  to  the  last  extremity." 

But  it  is  very  unkind  of  Horatio  Seymour  to  accuse  the  Secretary 
of  War.  He  has  been  traveling  upon  the  Secretary's  pass  for  two  years — 
the  only  certificate  of  character  he  ever  had — the  one  which  has  been 
paraded  by  every  copperhead  press  in  the  land,  signed  "Edwin  M.  Stanton." 
And  now  it  behooves  me  to  give  some  explanation  of  that  certificate.  I 
did  under  the  circumstance  just  what  you  would  have  done  and  just  as  loyal 
men  will  do  next  Tuesday  if  they  vote  for  Seymour — made  a  mistake! 

I  will  read  to  you  the  certificates.  The  first  is  dated  on  the  15th  of 
June.     It  was  in  these  words: 

"To  Governor  Seymour:  The  President  directs  me  to  return  his  thanks, 
with  those  of  the  Department,  for  your  prompt  response." 

That  was  upon  the  15th  day  of  June,  1863.  Lee,  with  his  army  100,000 
strong,  was  moving  upon  the  free  States  and  marching  to  invade  Pennsyl- 
vania. We  had  forces  equal,  perhaps,  in  numbers;  we  had  confidence  in  our 
troops;  but  we  were  not  willing  to  run  any  risk  that  could  be  provided 
against. 

On  the  morning  of  the  15th  day  of  June  the  Secretary  of  War  wrote 
a  telegram  to  the  governor  of  New  Jersey;  also  to  the  governor  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  to  the  governors  of  all  the  loyal  States,  asking  if  they  had  troops, 
militia  or  others,  that  were  available,  that  could  be  forwarded  to  Washing- 
ton; because  if  we  had  these  troops,  veterans  and  trained  soldiers  could  be 
withdrawn  from  the  garrisons  and  sent  to  the  front.  On  that  same  day 
Horatio  Seymour  replied  that  he  had  some  troops  of  organized  militia  and 
without  delay  would  forward  them  to  Washington. 

On  the  evening  of  that  day,  well  do  I  remember,  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
I  sat  side  by  side  in  the  corner  of  the  room  where  I  saw  so  many  anxious 
beats  of  his  great  heart.  We  were  looking  over  the  chances  of  the  conflict. 
We  knew  that  the  critical  hour  was  about  to  strike  on  the  clock  of  time, 
and  we  looked  over  all  to  see  whether  our  work  was  done;  to  see  whether 
there  was  any  point  where  we  could  strengthen  the  army,  to  insure  victory 
or  avert  disaster.  Telegrams  came.  We  looked  over  them,  and  among 
them  was  a  despatch  from  Governor  Seymour  promising  that  he  would 
quickly  forward  troops.  Why  did  that  excite  surprise?  Why  did  it  call  for 
thanks  from  the  President?  To  Governor  Tod  he  explained,  when  the 
Governor  asked  him,  "Why  is  it  you  thank  a  copperhead  governor  and 
render  no  thanks  to  loyal  governors?"  "Because  they  do  not  need  it  and 
Seymour  does!" 

On  that  night,  as  we  sat  with  ouf  hearts  heavy,  considering  the  question 
as  to  whether  our  duty  was  done,  and  the  approaching  issue  of  the  day, 
Mr.  Lincoln  said,  after  expressing  his  surprise  that  Governor  Seymour  was 


398  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

about  to  change  the  course  he  was  pursuing  toward  the  Government:  "I 
think  we  ought  to  make  some  acknowledgment."  I  said,  "I  think  so  too," 
and  so  that  telegram  was  written.  It  was  to  encourage  a  faint-hearted  gov- 
ernor, placed  by  accident  at  the  head  of  the  greatest  State  of  the  Union,  and 
to  induce  him  to  join  us  in  laboring  for  the  national  cause. 

A  week  from  that  time  passed.  On  the  21st  of  June,  stimulated  by  the 
patriotic  ardor  of  the  citizens  of  New  York,  unable  to  resist  the  pressure  that 
they  were  making  upon  him  in  the  hour  when  the  enemy  were  already 
marching  upon  free  soil,  a  few  regiments  came,  and  what  was  done? 
Another  note  of  thanks  was  written  to  Governor  Seymour  in  these  words: 
"Dear  Sir: 

"I  cannot  forbear  to  express  to  you  the  deep  obligation  I  feel  for  the 
prompt  and  candid  support  you  have  given  the  Government  in  the  present 
emergency. 

"Edwin  M.  Stanton." 

At  that  time  and  at  that  hour  I  would  have  engaged  to  support  Seymour 
against  all  men  on  the  earth,  because  I  thought  he  had  sacrificed  party 
spirit  and  strong  prejudice,  and  that  he  was  an  instance  where  conscience 
and  patriotism  had  burst  the  bonds  of  party  and  soared  to  a  loftier  sphere. 
This  was  on  the  21st  of  June.  Within  ten  days  after  that  Horatio  Seymour 
stood  in  Cooper  Institute  denouncing  the  Government,  discouraging  the  de- 
fenders of  the  flag,  while  Meade  was  mowing  down  rebels  on  the  blood-red 
hills  of  Gettysburg  and  Grant  was  taking  the  surrender  of  35,000  rebels  at 
Vicksburg. 

I  admit  I  gave  this  pass  that  Governor  Seymour  has  been  traveling 
on  for  two  years,  but  behold  Seymour's  change!  Look  at  these  dates;  they 
show*  exactly  the  conduct  of  Seymour.  He  was  appealed  to  on  the  15th  of 
June;  he  answered  on  the  21st  of  June,  and  on  the  4th  of  July  he  was  at 
Cooper  Institute  denouncing  the  draft,  and  pleading  for  the  enemy! 

Upon  the  4th  of  July,  1863,  notwithstanding  the  conduct  of  Horatio 
Seymour,  the  sun  of  our  country's  glory  burst  forth  in  splendor  through  the 
dark  clouds  of  Rebellion  that  had  for  some  time  overshadowed  it,  and  the 
baleful  exclamations  of  treason  were  scattered. 

Do  your  duty  next  Tuesday,  and  the  sun  of  our  political  glory  will 
shine  as  brightly  as  it  shone  on  the  day  of  the  4th  of  July  at  Vicksburg  and 
at  Gettysburg. 

Vote  against  Grant  and  darkness  and  gloom  will  settle  over  this  country 
— like  the  pall  of  midnight  will  settle  deeper  and  deeper  over  the  land,  over 
its  prosperity,  over  the  elements  of  national  honor,  over  the  elements  of 
national  strength — and  the  greatest  calamity  that  ever  befell  the  people  will 
be  upon  us. 

May  Divine  Providence  avert  the  catastrophe! 


CHAPTER  LXVII. 

A  STRUGGLING  WRECK  — THE  SUPREME  BENCH. 

At  the  close  of  the  campaign  (on  November  8,  1868)  Stanton 
wrote  the  following  to  his  dearest  friend,  Peter  H.  Waston,  at  Ash- 
tabula, Ohio: 

On  Monday  evening  I  reached  home  in  a  state  of  great  exhaustion  from 
the  fatigue  and  excitement  of  two  vast  meetings,  one  at  Pittsburg,  the 
other  at  Philadelphia.  The  Philadelphia  reception  would  have  been  highly 
gratifying  to  a  person  who  prizes  such  displays.  The  monster  building,  the 
Academy  of  Music,  was  jammed  from  roof  to  foundation  by  a  throng  of 
ladies  and  gentlemen  and  thousands  were  outside,  waiting  for  an  address 
to  them.  An  increased  vote  of  5,000  in  that  city,  and  nearly  9,000  in  Pitts- 
burg shows  that  the  throttling  of  Seymour  did  not  prejudice  our  cause,  and 
he  was  pretty  thoroughly  skinned  from  snout  to  tail. 

I  found  Mrs.  Stanton  at  home  in  about  the  same  health  as  when  I  left 
her.  The  rest  of  my  family  are  well,  and  my  own  health  and  strength  im- 
proving. 

I  had  written  this  far  when  your  note  informing  me  of  the  accident  that 
had  happened  to  you  by  the  explosion  of  the  silicate  of  soda  was  brought  in. 
I  hope  you  will  not,  my  dear  friend,  give  a  moment's  notice  or  care  con- 
cerning me,  but  think  only  of  yourself  and  recovery.  The  accident  will  not, 
I  hope,  interfere  with  your  prospects  concerning  a  patent.  As  I  am  now  at 
home,  and  do  not  design  any  other  absence,  you  can  refer  Stoughton  to 
me  for  any  aid  that  may  be  required  and  I  may  happen  to  be  competent  to 
give.  This  accident  shows  that  we  are  complements  to  each  other,  both 
being  better  together  than  alone,  for  I  would  not  have  allowed  you  to  run 
any  risks,  and  you  would  have  cured  me  if  I  could  have  stayed  at  Ashta- 
bula instead  of  going  to  Cincinnati. 

While  J.  W.  Draper,  the  noted  historian  and  scientist,  was  pre- 
paring his '"History  of  the  Rebellion,"  he  asked  to  be  supplied  with 
facts  for  incorporation  therein  which  would  vindicate  Stanton's  ad- 
ministration.    Stanton  replied,  on  November  20,  1868: 

While  I  assent  to  your  maxim  that  a  public  officer  owes  something  to 
himself  in  seeing  that  the  truth  is  told  concerning  his  acts,  yet  I  have  never 
been  able  to  overcome  the  feeling  that  in  a  great  contest  like  ours,  involving 
the  life  of  a  nation  and  the  welfare  of  a  race,  merely  individual  action  is  too 


400  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

insignificant  to  waste  time  and  labor  in  its  vindication.  Hence  I  have  felt 
that  it  was  better  to  bear  in  silence  what  might  easily  be  answered  or  re- 
pelled without  regard  to  the  source  or  motive  of  the  accusation. 

It  is  my  purpose  to  devote  a  few  weeks  before  reentering  actively  upon 
professional  labors  to  the  arrangement  of  such  papers  as  appear  worthy  of 
preservation;  and  whatever  information  they  contain,  or  I  possess,  shall  be 
at  your  service. 

Unfortunately  he  made  no  such  assortment  of  his  papers  for 
Professor  Draper  or  any  one  else.  Indeed  he  left  very  few  papers 
valuable  or  otherwise. 

A  little  later,  on  January  3,  1869,  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Watson  that 
he  "had  been  better  than  usual  the  last  two  days,"  so  that  he  "hoped 
to  get  through  the  winter  without  any  more  violent  paroxysms  of 
asthma."  A  week  afterward,  on  January  10,  mentioning  politics 
with  some  freedom,  he  wrote  thus  to  Mr.  Watson : 

I  am  glad  to  learn  that  your  patent  was  issued,  and  I  hope  it  is  now  in 
your  possession  secure  against  official  perils.  I  hope  you  reached  home  in 
time  to  meet  your  boys,  and  have  a  full  family  assembly.  My  family  are  as 
you  left  them;  you  are  still  the  theme  of  our  kindest  thoughts  and  converse. 
Bessie  [Stanton's  daughter]  is  anxious  to  be  enlightened  on  several  scien- 
tific points  which  she  insists  no  one  understands  but  you. 

Politics  is  becoming  exciting.  You  have  doubtless  noted  that  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad,  Tom  Scott,  and  Cameron,  have  selected  a  railroad  at- 
torney [John  Scott,  for  ten  years  solicitor  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad] 
as  senator  from  Pennsylvania.  Morrill  of  Maine  is  beaten  in  caucus  by 
Hannibal  Hamlin,  and  Fessenden  reads  the  handwriting  on  the  wall.  It  is 
said  that  Morrill  was  beaten  chiefly  by  Fessenden's  support  of  him.* 

Morgan  [Edwin  D.  Morgan  of  New  York]  will  be  defeated;  who  will 
win  among  his  opponents  is  uncertain.  The  election  is  said  to  be  substan- 
tially at  auction. 

You  and  I  have  no  lot  or  part  in  all  these  schemes,  and  can  only  lament 
their  existence  without  power  to  avert  their  evils,  and  mourn  such  results 
after  all  the  great  national  and  patriotic  sacrifices  we  have  witnessed  and 
shared. 

My  health  continues  to  improve,  and  I  am  busy  with  the  cases,  but 
straitened  for  money.  Can  you  do  anything  for  me,  or  must  I  look  else- 
where? 

Mr.  Watson  happened  to  be  with  Stillman  Witt  of  Cleveland 
when  the  foregoing  request  for  aid  was  received,  and  permitted  him 
to  read  it.     Mr.  Witt,  for  himself  and  associated  with  Amasa  Stone, 

*William  P.  Fessenden  abandoned  his  party  during  the  trial  of  Presi- 
dent Johnson  and  voted  with  the  Democrats  against  impeachment. 


A  STRUGGLING  WRECK— THE  SUPREME  BENCH  401 

had  been  a  large  railway  contractor  and  a  great  admirer  of  Stanton. 
He  handed  back  the  letter  with  a  draft  for  five  thousand  dollars 
payable  to  Stanton's  order.  The  aid,  supposed  by  Stanton  to  be  a 
loan,  was  thus  acknowledged : 

Washington,  D.  C,  January  29,  1869. 
My  dear  Friend: 

Your  note  enclosing  Mr.  Witt's  draft  for  $5,000  received  here  while  I 
was  at  Wheeling  trying  a  land  case.  My  health  had  very  much  improved. 
I  was  as  strong  and  vigorous  as  at  any  time  within  two  years.  The  case 
involved  lands  and  mines  to  the  extent  of  two  millions  and  I  never  made  an 
argument  with  more  ease  and  effect  and  success.  But  a  journey  across  the 
mountains  has  for  years  been  followed  by  sickness  and  special  circum- 
stances contributed  this  time  so  that  I  have  been  without  voice  from  sore 
throat  and  without  breath  from  spasms  of  asthma  that  prevented  me  from 
acknowledging  Mr.  Witt's  letter.  It  is  enclosed  with  a  note  for  his  advance 
and  I  will  trouble  you  to  give  them  to  him  or  send  them  by  mail  as  soon  as 
possible. 

The  family  is  as  well  as  usual.  I  am  glad  to  hear  from  Mrs.  Watson 
and  the  children. 

In  Mr.  Witt's  letter  you  will  find  the  political  news.  Seward  will  not 
get  into  the  cabinet  but  some  think  it  will  be  very  Sewardish.  I  suppose 
you  have  seen  Bank's  little  romance.  It  is  got  up  by  a  joint  stock  company 
in  the  apprehension  of  my  going  into  the  cabinet,  although  I  would  rather 
burn  my  arm  off  to  the  socket.  Whether  Grant  has  any  stock  in  it  for  the 
purpose  of  excusing  him  from  the  compliment  of  an  offer  to  me,  opinions 
vary. 

I  care  nothing  about  it,  and,  having  repelled  the  imputation  of  ever 
having  thought  Banks  fit  for  a  military  command  by  a  public  denial,  I  shall 
leave  the  matter  where  it  is.  The  whole  story  is  simply  this,  as  you  may 
remember:  While  Grant  was  besieging  Vicksburg,  Banks,  with  a  large 
force,  was  fiddling  away  at  Port  Hudson.  There  was  no  confidence  in  his 
capacity  or  success.  Mr.  Lincoln,  Halleck,  and  Grant  believed  that  if  Vicks- 
burg were  taken,  Port  Hudson  would  fall,  and  Grant  wanted  Banks'  troops. 
They  were  ordered  to  him  but  did  not  go,  for  Banks  held  on  to  them.  Now 
Banks  says  he  was  senior  to  Grant  and  would  have  had  the  command  if  he 
had  gone  to  Vicksburg,  and  the  order  to  go  there  with  his  troops  is  what  he 
calls  superseding  Grant;  but  the  law*  expressly  authorized  the  President  to 
give  the  command  to  a  junior — it  was  often  done — and  Mr.  Lincoln  meant 
to  do  it  as  soon  as  Banks  got  to  Vicksburg,  but  thought  it  best  to  wait  until 
the  troops  got  there.  Banks  no  doubt  suspected  that,  and  did  not  budge 
from  Port  Hudson,  which  fell  as  soon  as  Vicksburg  was  taken. 

Yours  truly, 
P.  H.  Watson,  Esq.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 


*See  act  approved  April  4,  1862,  giving  the  President  power,  when  two 
or  more  officers  of  like  grade  were  operating  in  the  same  field,  to  designate 
the  commander,  regardless  of  rank. 


403  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Howard  P.  Eells  of  Cleveland,  who  administered  the  Witt  es- 
tate, says  Stanton's  note  and  grateful  letter  of  acknowledgment 
were  destroyed  and  that  Mr.  Witt's  gift  was  intended  to  remain  an 
unrecorded  secret — a  real  tribute  of  gratitude  and  friendship. 

The  "land  case"  involving  two  million  dollars,  mentioned  in 
the  above  letter,  covered  a  tract  of  ten  thousand,  three  hundred  and 
seventy-five  acres  of  timber  underlaid  with  cannel  coal  in  Kanawha 
County,  West  Virginia.  Stanton  appeared  for  R.  M.  T.  Hunter  and 
others,  who  were  plaintiffs  in  a  very  complicated  case.  He  men- 
tions that  he  "never  made  an  argument  with  more  ease  and  effect 
and  success" — a  remarkable  statement,  in  view  of  his  shattered  and 
feeble  condition.    Judge  Thayer  Melvin  of  Wheeling  says : 

When  Mr.  Stanton  appeared  to  argue  the  Kanawha  case,  I  was  pained 
and  disappointed.  I  had  conceived  him  to  be  an  immense,  burly,  rough,  and 
resistless  man,  full  of  health  and  power  and  ready  for  any  contest  or  emer- 
gency. Instead  of  my  ideal,  there  came  in,  walking  slowly  and  wearily,  a 
feeble  and  exhausted  invalid,  whose  death-like  pallor  shocked  all  beholders. 
His  argument  was  delivered  in  low  conversational  style,  but  with  wonderful 
clearness,  directness,  and  completeness.  I  think  that  was  his  last  trip  over 
the  mountains,  and  some  believed  then  that  he  would  not  live  to  get  out  of 
the  city.     All  who  saw  him  were  sad.     Certainly  death  seemed  near. 

"I  had  tea  with  Mr.  Stanton  and  his  son  Eddie  at  the  McLure 
House  in  Wheeling  at  the  close  of  the  Kanawha  argument,"  says 
William  Stanton  Buchanan,  then  residing  in  Wheeling.  'T  told 
him  that  he  was  failing  very  fast.  He  did  not  seem  surprised  or 
frightened,  but  simply  answered:  'Do  you  think  so,  William?'  I 
did,  indeed,  think  so,  for  he  was  a  wreck.  I  hardly  see  how  he  with- 
stood the  journey  home." 

The  ensuing  exhaustion  was  so  severe  and  long-continued  that 
for  some  time  he  shared  the  fear  of  his  friends  that  perhaps  his  con- 
dition was  really  serious.  While  entertaining  this  feeling  he  re- 
solved to  be  prepared  for  the  worst,  and  sent  for  Dr.  William  Spar- 
row of  Alexandria,  Virginia,  to  baptize  him.  He  also  requested 
General  E.  D.  Townsend  to  come  and  discuss  the  personnel  of  the 
executors  of  his  will  as  well  as  the  most  available  manner  of  dis- 
posing of  his  property,  and  a  place  of  burial. 

After  this  he  rallied  considerably,  and  on  June  11,  1869,  wrote 
to  Mr.  Watson  a  "family  letter"  of  some  length  in  which  occurs 
this  paragraph : 


A  STRUGGLING  WRECK— THE  SUPREME  BENCH  403 

Since  you  were  here  the  state  of  my  health  has  greatly  fluctuated — being 
sometimes  worse  and  seldom  better  until  recently.  A  decided  improvement 
has  now  taken  place.  Although  my  strength  is  not  fully  regained,  my  ap- 
petite and  sleep  have  much  improved,  and,  with  the  advancing  season,  I  am 
growing  stronger  and  hope  now  for  a  full  recovery. 

Mrs.  Stanton  and  Dr.  Barnes  are  striving  to  get  me  away  from  Wash- 
ington during  the  hot  weather,  but  I  am  resisting  and  would  much  prefer  to 
stay  at  home.     I  do  not  know  how  the  contest  will  end. 

Immediately  following  the  date  of  this  letter  a  serious  decline 
set  in  and  the  "contest"  referred  to  ended  on  July  19,  by  advice  of 
Dr.  Barnes,  in  drafting  his  will.  On  July  25,  Dr.  Barnes  ordered 
him  to  depart  for  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  journey  seemed  too 
formidable  and  too  costly,  so  he  compromised  by  leaving  on  August 
4  for  Mount  Wachusett,  Massachusetts. 

Receiving  there  no  apparent  benefit,  he  proceeded  to  Wolfboro, 
New  Hampshire,  whence  a  New  York  correspondent  wrote  that  he 
"seemed  like  a  wreck,  and  did  little  more  than  sit  on  the  piazza  and 
watch  the  children  at  play,  in  strange  and  pitiful  contrast  to  the  sur- 
rounding vivacity." 

About  the  middle  of  September  he  went  by  invitation  to  Pine 
Bluff,  the  breezy  seaside  home  of  his  friend  Samuel  Hooper,  at 
Cotuit  on  the  coast  of  Cape  Cod.  There  he  revived  from  a  relapse 
which  would  have  terminated  fatally  had  he  remained  in  Washing- 
ton. 

"This  is  a  sweet  oasis,"  he  wrote  to  James  M.  Ashley  of  To- 
ledo ;  "my  life  has  been  prolonged  by  its  pure  air  and  fresh  sur- 
roundings. I  thank  God  for  the  kindness  of  my  friends."  His  fi- 
nances were  so  straitened  that  without  an  invitation  like  that  from 
Mr.  Hooper,  or  a  cash  advance  from  one  like  Mr.  Witt,  he  would 
have  been  unable  to  leave  Washington  for  any  considerable  time ; 
hence  the  fervent  expression  of  gratitude  for  the  "kindness  of  his 
friends." 

Returning  in  the  early  autumn,  he  was  more  cheerful  but  really 
weaker  and  more  broken  down  than  before.  While  thus  helpless 
physically  and  financially,  he  wrote  the  following  sad  communica- 
tion, the  very  last  of  any  length  penned  by  his  own  hand : 

Washington,  November  25,  1869. 
My  dear  Friend: 

Contrary  to  my  hope  when  I  last  saw  you,  my  health  was  not  restored 
so  that  I  could  engage  in  business  for  a  livelihood.  My  strength  rapidly 
declined  in  the  summer,  and  with  reluctance  I  was  compelled  to  leave  home. 


404  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Some  months  on  the  mountains  and  seashore  of  New  England,  with  ab- 
solute rest,  effected  some  improvement,  and  I  am  now  better  than  for  the 
last  twelve  months,  and  am  steadily  but  slowly  improving. 

My  medical  advisers,  everywhere,  enjoin  abstinence  from  any  employ- 
ment taxing  my  physical  strength,  so  that  I  have  been  forced  to  decline 
numerous  professional  engagements  that,  had  I  been  strong  enough,  would 
have  provided  for  my  necessities. 

I  am  entirely  out  of  money.  Traveling,  educating,  and  providing  for 
my  children,  and  other  necessary  expenditures,  have  quite  exhausted  my 
last  winter's  supply  furnished  by  Mr.  Witt's  kindness,  so  that  I  am  com- 
pelled to  apply  to  you  for  aid.  I  know  you  will  be  glad  to  aid  me  if  in 
your  power.  I  have  valuable  property  here  and  in  Ohio,  and  on  the  Mo- 
nongahela,  not  encumbered,  but  unproductive.  I  have  not  been  able  to  give 
my  attention  towards  disposing  of  it,  and  my  protracted  and  serious  illness 
has  cut  off  my  professional  supplies.* 

Please  let  me  know  whether  you  can  help  me  or  not.  Five  thousand 
dollars  would  carry  me  through  another  year;  even  less  would  drive  the 
wolf  from  the  door. 

With  kindest  regards  to  you  and  Mrs.  Watson  and  the  children,  I  re- 
main, 

Ever  yours, 
P.  H.  Watson,  Esq.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

On  December  12,  after  arguing  the  famous  case  of  Whitney  vs. 
Mowry  before  Justice  Swayne,  who  came  to  Stanton's  residence  to 
sit  in  chambers,  he  suffered  a  severe  relapse.  During  this  illness, 
James  M.  Ashley  of  Ohio  telegraphed  to  General  T.  M.  Vincent  an 
expression  of  solicitude  and  asked  for  information  concerning  Stan- 
ton's health.  As  the  message  was  one  of  unusual  cordiality,  Gen- 
eral Vincent  handed  it  to  Stanton  at  his  house.  He  exclaimed : 
"That's  from  my  good  friend  Ashley;  I  myself  will  answer  it." 

He  called  for  pen  and  paper  but  was  unable  to  write  a  sentence 
■ — hardly  a  word,  in  fact.  Dropping  the  pen  and  turning  to  General 
Vincent,  he  observed,  with  trembling  voice  and  tearful  eyes:  "I 
can't  do  it ;  I  am  used  up." 

In  the  meantime  Justice  R.  C.  Grier  had  informed  Stanton  that 
he  intended  to  retire  under  the  act  of  April,  1869,  and  intimated  that 


*Says  Charles  A.  Dana:  "Less  than  a  month  before  his  death  he  re- 
ceived a  large  retainer  from  Pennsylvania.  In  reply  he  asked  for  time,  say- 
ing he  was  not  ready  to  appear  in  court  in  so  important  a  suit.  He  was 
informed  that  delay  was  impossible,  to  go  ahead  at  once.  Distressed  as  he 
was  for  money,  he  returned  the  retainer,  as  he  was  too  conscientious  to 
accept  a  fee  which  he  thought  he  could  not  fully  earn." 


A  STRUGGLING  WRECK— THE  SUPREME  BENCH  405 

if  his  dear  old  friend,  now  feeble  in  body  and  purse,  desired  to  be  his 
successor,  he  would  be  happy  to  time  his  resignation  agreeably  to 
that  end. 

No  suggestion  was  ever  more  gratefully  received.  Broken 
health,  lack  of  ready  money,  failure  of  the  impeachment,  vehement 
attacks  upon  reconstruction  by  some  of  his  former  friends,  eleven 
votes  in  the  Senate  and  twenty-five  in  the  House  against  even  the 
cheap  reward  of  thanks  for  his  great  services,  all  combined  to  pro- 
duce extreme  mental  anguish.  Hence  the  possibility  of  becoming  a 
part  of  the  highest  court  in  the  world  was  a  source  of  keen  satis- 
faction. 

An  appropriate  interjection  here  is  that  of  the  fact  that  when 
Chief-Justice  Taney  died  in  the  autumn  of  1864,  Bishop  Simpson, 
Governor  O.  P.  Morton,  General  J.  K.  Moorhead,  Governor  John  A. 
Andrew,  and  others  besought  Lincoln  to  appoint  Stanton  to  the  va- 
cant position.  "If  Mr.  Stanton  can  find  a  man  he  himself  will  trust 
as  secretary  of  war,  I'll  do  it,"  said  Lincoln  to  Bishop  Simpson. 
Stanton  knew  of  no  such  man ;  and  S.  P.  Chase,  who  was  favored  by 
Stanton,  was  appointed. 

President  Grant  indicated  that,  should  nothing  unexpected  in- 
tervene, Stanton  would  be  appointed  to  succeed  Justice  Grier.  How- 
ever, some  days  passed  without  any  announcement,  for  reasons  best 
given  by  the  late  Senator  M.  H.  Carpenter  of  Wisconsin,  in  a  speech 
in  the  Senate  on  June  4,  1872,  in  part  as  follows : 

I  had  charge  of  a  bill  which  we  passed  for  the  reconstruction  of  the 
legislature  of  Georgia,  after  the  colored  members  had  been  expelled.  We 
sat  late  at  night  to  pass  it.  At  about  half-past  eleven,  while  in  my  seat,  it 
occurred  to  me  that  something  might  be  done  to  insure  the  appointment  of 
Mr.  Stanton  as  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.  It  had  been  expected  by 
many  of  us,  and  yet  his  nomination  did  not  come.  I  then  and  there  drew 
up  a  letter  for  the  President,  recommending  Mr.  Stanton  to  be  appointed 
judge  of  that  court.  I  took  it  around  the  chamber  and  in  less  than  twenty 
minutes  obtained  thirty-seven  signatures  of  Republican  senators.*  That 
was  Friday  night,  and  before  leaving  the  Senate  Chamber  I  agreed  with  the 
Senator  from  Michigan  [Mr.  Chandler]  to  meet  at  the  White  House  the 
following  morning,  Saturday,  at  10  o'clock  to  present  the  letter  to  the 
President. 

The  next  morning  I  rode  to  Mr.  Stanton's  and  showed  him  the  letter, 
and  as  he  glanced  over  it  the  tears  started  down  his  cheeks.  He  said  not 
a  word.  He  did  not  even  say  "thank  you."  Witnessing  the  depth  of  his 
emotion  I  bowed  myself  out,  telling  him  that  I  was  going  to  present  it  to 
the  President. 


*Headed  by  Vice-President  Colfax. 


406  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

I  carried  it  to  the  President  and  found  the  Senator  from  Michigan  with 
the  President,  awaiting  me.  Said  the  President:  "I  am  delighted  to  have 
that  letter;  I  have  desired  to  appoint  Mr.  Stanton  to  that  place,  and  yet,  in 
consequence  of  his  having  been  secretary  of  war  and  so  prominent  in  the 
recent  political  strife,  I  have  doubted  whether  it  would  answer  to  make  him 
Judge;  that  indorsement  is  all  I  want;  you  go  to  Mr.  Stanton's  house  and 
tell  him  his  name  will  be  sent  to  the  Senate  Monday  morning." 

This  was  Saturday.  I  then  drove  back  to  Mr.  Stanton's  house  and  told 
him  what  the  President  had  said.  Mr.  Stanton's  first  reply  was:  "The  kind- 
ness of  General  Grant — it  is  perfectly  characteristic  of  him — will  do  more 
to  cure  me  than  the  skill  of  all  the  doctors." 

In  the  House  one  hundred  and  eighteen  Republicans  signed 
a  similar  petition,  and  next  day,  on  Sunday,  President  Grant,  accom- 
panied by  Vice-President  Colfax,  called  to  say  to  Mr.  Stanton  in 
person  that  the  appointment  would  be  made  on  the  following  day. 
It  was  sent  to  the  Senate  on  Monday,  December  20,  and  confirmed 
an  hour  later,  after  words  of  kind  and  tender  endorsement,  by  a  vote 
of  forty-six  to  eleven. 

Notice  of  confirmation  was  immediately  returned  to  the  White 
House,  and  the  commission  would  have  been  transmitted  to  Stanton 
the  same  day  if  President  Grant  had  been  satisfied  that  he  possessed 
authority  to  habilitate  a  justice  in  the  absence  of  a  vacancy — Mr. 
Justice  Grier's  resignation  having  been  drawn  to  take  effect  on  the 
first  of  February  following.* 

During  the  afternoon  of  the  20th — a  cold,  damp,  and  windy 
day — Stanton  arose  from  his  bed,  and,  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  his 
physician  and  the  members  of  his  family,  drove  to  the  White  House 
to  return  the  President's  call  and  to  thank  him  personally  for  the 
appointment. 

Thoroughly  muffled  in  heavy  wraps,  looking  more  dead  than 
alive,  he  tottered  to  the  President's  room,  supported  by  Adjutant- 
General  Townsend.  Much  surprised,  Grant  stepped  forward  rapidly 
to  greet  his  visitor,  who  grasped  him  with  both  hands,  but  could 
utter  scarcely  a  word.     Trembling  lips  and  suffused  eyes,  however, 


*"The  circumstances  of  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Stanton  were  very  re- 
markable. Mr.  Justice  Grier  had  sent  in  his  resignation  to  retire  on  Febru- 
ary 1.  Mr.  Stanton  was  nominated,  confirmed,  commissioned,  and  ready 
to  take  his  seat;  then  sickened,  died,  and  was  buried,  all  before  the  first  day 
of  February.  On  that  day  good  old  Justice  Grier  returned,  took  his  seat  on 
the  bench  and  helped  to  decide  causes  after  his  successor  had  been  ap- 
pointed, commissioned,  and  was  dead  and  buried." — Speech  of  Senator  M. 
H.  Carpenter. 


A  STRUGGLING  WRECK— THE  SUPREME  BENCH  407 

more  eloquently  than  words,  told  the  dying  man's  story  of  apprecia- 
tion and  gratitude.  He  had  made  the  following  acknowledgment 
in  writing,  but  instead  of  sending  it,  visited  Grant  in  person,  as 
stated : 

Dear  Sir: 

I  beg  you  to  accept  my  thanks  for  your  nomination  of  me  as  one  of  the 
associate  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  It  is  the  only 
public  office  I  ever  desired  and  I  accept  it  with  great  pleasure. 

The  appointment  afifords  me  the  more  pleasure  coming  from  you,  with 
whom  for  several  years  I  have  had  personal  and  official  relations  such  as 
seldom  exist  among  men. 

It  will  be  my  aim  so  long  as  life  and  health  permit  to  perform  the 
solemn  duties  of  the  office  to  which  you  have  appointed  me  with  diligence, 
impartiality,  and  integrity. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  truly  your  friend, 
The  President.  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

On  the  22d  the  President  became  convinced  that  there  were  no 
inhibiting  circumstances  and  signed  the  commission ;  but,  as  if  to 
complete  a  tragedy,  Stanton  never  saw  it.  The  relapse  brought  on 
by  his  visit  to  the  White  House  had  already  reached  both  heart 
and  brain,  obscuring  all  earthly  facts  and  faculties  with  the  haze  of 
approaching  death. 

After  the  burial,  Grant  sent  the  commission  to  Mrs.  Stanton, 
accompanied  by  a  warm  tribute  to  her  husband's  "ability,  integrity, 
patriotism,  and  services." 


CHAPTER  LXVIII. 
DEATH. 

The  attending  physician  did  not  apprehend  immediately  fatal 
results  from  the  relapse  brought  on  by  the  visit  to  Grant  on  the  20th, 
To  Mrs.  Stanton's  anxious  inquiries  he  replied  that  her  husband 
would  "certainly  rally,  as  his  mind  was  clear  and  active  and  his 
interest  in  public  affairs  unabated." 

On  the  evening  of  December  23,  1869,  after  Dr.  Barnes  had  de- 
parted, the  family  retired  as  usual,  leaving  Stanton  in  care  of  his 
nurse,  David  Jones.  An  hour  later  Jones  was  startled  by  extreme 
paroxysmal  respiration  in  his  patient  and  aroused  the  household. 
Dr.  Barnes  was  brought  back  at  once,  and,  discovering  impending 
dissolution,  sent  for  the  Reverend  Thomas  A.  Starkey,  rector  of 
Epiphany  Church.  Between  the  ensuing  convulsions  Stanton  ex- 
pressed the  belief  that  he  would  recover.  Dr.  Barnes,  however,  was 
convinced  to  the  contrary,  and  the  rector  chanted  the  solemn  service 
for  the  dying  at  2  o'clock  in  the  morning.  At  4  o'clock,  surrounded 
by  his  entire  household  (which  included  the  servants,  Nurse  Jones, 
Miss  Bowie,  Dr.  Barnes,  and  the  Reverend  Mr.  Starkey),  having 
been  in  a  semi-comatose  condition  for  a  time,  the  weary  Titan 
breathed  his  last  in  painless  peace. 

The  following  day  was  the  25th  of  December.  Thus,  while  the 
great  War  Minister  lay  wrapped  in  the  gloomy  trappings  of  death,. 
all  about  him  glowed  the  illuminations,  festivities,  and  joys  of 
Christmastide ! 

On  the  26th  General  E.  D.  Townsend  and  General  Thomas  M. 
Vincent  sat  the  night  out  by  the  side  of  the  dead,  so  that  those  who 
never  failed  him  in  life  had  the  honor  of  keeping  the  last  vigil  in 
death. 

In  accordance  with  his  wish  that  no  display  whatever  be  per- 
mitted at  his  funeral,  the  plan  of  the  United  States  Senate  and  the 
request  of  the  House  of  Representatives  for  a  State  funeral  were 
denied.     No  formal  guard  of  hpnor  was  about  the  bier,  no  soldiers 


DEATH  409 

or  marines  in  front  of  the  house,  nothing  save  drawn  curtains  and 
sad  faces  indicated  anything  out  of  the  ordinary  in  the  Stanton 
home. 

Previous  to  closing  the  casket  and  bringing  it  down  to  the 
parlor  for  the  funeral,  which  occurred  on  the  27th,  a  few  of  those 
who  had  been  most  intimate  with  the  deceased  were  permitted  to 
have  a  last  look  at  the  strong  but  kindly  features,  now  "scarred  by 
the  crooked  autograph  of  pain."* 

The  simplest  form  of  the  Episcopal  burial  services  was  then 
read  by  the  Reverend  Mr.  Starkey,  assisted  by  the  Reverend  Dr. 
Pinckney  and  the  venerable  William  Sparrow,  after  which  a  cor- 
poral, a  sergeant,  and  eight  privates  of  Battery  F,  Fifth  Artillery,  in 
full  uniform,  bore  the  coffin  to  the  hearse  and  attended  it  to  the 
cemetery.  Secretary  of  War  Belknap,  Postmaster-General  J.  A.  J. 
Creswell,  United  States  Senators  M.  H.  Carpenter,  Charles  Sumner, 
Zachariah  Chandler,  and  George  F.  Edmunds,  Representatives 
Judd  and  Hooper,  Associate-Justice  Swayne,  Justice  D.  K.  Cartter, 
Generals  J.  K.  Barnes,  Thomas  T.  Eckert,  and  E.  D.  Townsend,  and 
the  Honorable  Edwards  Pierrepont  acted  as  pall-bearers. 

Notwithstanding  its  simplicity,  the  funeral  was  imposing.  Pres- 
ident Grant  and  his  official  household,  Vice-President  Colfax  and  his 
retinue,  the  justices  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Courtt  in  a  body ; 
all  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  in  and  about  Washington  in  full 
uniform ;  the  officers  of  the  War  Department  and  of  the  District  of 
Columbia ;  delegations  from  patriotic  bodies  in  Philadelphia,  Balti- 
more, New  York,  and  Pittsburg;  special  delegations  representing 
the  Union  League  ;  senators  and  representatives  in  Congress  in  sep- 
arate bodies ;  and  Federal  officials  as  well  as  diplomats  and  distin- 


*"As  the  casket  was  about  to  be  closed,"  says  Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson, 
"several  senators  expressed  a  desire  to  possess  a  lock  of  the  great  War 
Minister's  hair,  and  I  too  wanted  one.  Thereupon  Surgeon-General  Barnes, 
taking  a  pair  of  small  scissors  from  his  pocket,  lifted  the  heroic  head  of  the 
sleeping  tyrant  and  clipped  a  compact  curl  from  the  back  of  it,  which  he 
enclosed  in  a  white  envelope  and  slipped  into  an  inner  pouch  of  his  mili- 
tary coat.  I  grieve  to  say  that  I  did  not  secure  a  part  of  it,  and  I  never 
knew  what  became  of  this  precious  memento,  snatched  from  the  grave,  of 
the  most  powerful,  wilful,  fearless,  and  disinterested  patriot  who  ever  lived 
on  this  continent." 


tjustice   Grier  had  the   unique  experience  of  attending,  in   his   official 
capacity,  the  funeral  of  his  own  successor. 


410  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

guished  persons  generally,  gathered  in  front  of  the  house  and  waited 
through  the  ceremony  in  a  cold,  drizzling  rain  in  order  to  join  the 
procession  to  Oak  Hill  Cemetery,*  overlooking  the  Potomac  River. 
The  hearse  was  drawn  by  four  gray  horses  draped  in  black  and  the 
coffin  and  the  grave  were  heaped  with  floral  tributes. 

And  so  the  most  gigantic  and  invincible  patriot  of  the  age, 
amidst  censure,  poverty,  and  humiliation,  wrecked  by  superhuman 
labors  to  save  his  country,  lay  down  to  rest ! 


*  "When  he  requested  me  to  act  as  one  of  his  executors,"  says  Gen- 
eral E.  D.  Townsend,  "Mr.  Stanton  said  that  he  wished  to  be  buried  in 
Steubenville,  where  he  was  born,  and  that  he  had  arranged  in  that  city  the 
spot  in  which  his  body  was  to  lie.  I  never  knew  why  his  wish  was  disre- 
garded and  think  that  Mrs.  Stanton  may  not  have  understood  that  he  had 
expressed  any  desire  as  to  his  final  resting-place." 

John  McCracken  of  Steubenville,  says:  "The  last  time  he  was  in  Steu- 
benville, in  September,  1868,  Mr.  Stanton  visited  the  cemetery  and  on  re- 
turning came  to  my  office  much  affected.  Calling  for  the  cemetery  plat,  he 
made  a  mark  at  a  certain  place  on  his  lot,  saying:  'There,  John,  is  where  I 
shall  lie  at  last.'  " 


CHAPTER  LXIX. 

PROPERTY  —  LAST  WILL. 

:  Stanton's  life  closed  amidst  extremely  straitened  and  humiliat- 
ing circumstances.  Mrs.  Stanton  was  wasting  away  with  consump- 
tion and  several  times,  notwithstanding  the  skill  and  persistency  of 
Surgeon-General  Barnes,  was  expected  to  precede  her  husband  to 
the  grave.  He  himself  was  unable  to  earn,  and,  having  no  money,* 
received  the  necessary  medicine  for  himself  and  wife  from  the  hos- 
pital stores  of  the  War  Department  through  the  Surgeon-General, 
whose  long-continued  professional  services  were  likewise  without 
price. 

The  estate  was  settled  without  controversy  under  a  will  drawn 
with  his  own  hand,  according  to  family  custom  for  nearly  two  cen- 
turies, as  follows : 

I,  EDWIN  M.  STANTON  of  Washington,  do  make,  publish,  and  de- 
clare this  writing  as  and  for  my  last  will  and  testament,  thereby  revoking 
and  annulling  all  other  wills  by  me  heretofore  made. 

1st.     I  direct  all  my  just  debts  to  be  paid. 

2d.  The  surplus  of  my  estate  (except  as  hereinafter  expressed)  real, 
personal,  and  mixed,  and  all  my  goods,  chattels,  moneys,  and  eflfects  not 
otherwise  herein  disposed  of,  wheresoever  situated,  shall  be  divided  as 
follows: 

3d.  I  give,  devise,  and  bequeath  two-thirds  thereof  to  my  wife  Ellen 
H.  Stanton  and  her  heirs  forever  to  her  sole  use  and  behoof  in  fee  simple, 
including  in  this  bequest  my  plate  and  household  furniture,  charged  with 
two-thirds  of  my  debts. 


*Edwards  Pierrepont,  at  a  dinner  in  New  York,  mentioned  Stanton's 
financial  extremities  as  a  matter  deserving  public  attention.  In  a  few 
moments  a  testimonial  gift  of  $100,000  was  subscribed  and  Mr.  Pierrepont 
selected  to  present  it  in  person.  Stanton,  who  was  found  in  bed,  wept  tears 
of  gratitude  over  the  generosity  of  his  friends,  but,  in  words  that  were 
scarcely  equal  to  a  whisper  on  account  of  the  depth  of  his  emotion,  said  he 
could  "accept  no  gratuities." 


412  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

4th.  The  remaining  one-third  of  my  estate  I  give,  devise,  and  bequeath 
to  my  executors  in  trust  for  the  use  of  my  mother  (charged  with  the  pay- 
ment of  one-third  of  my  debts)  for  the  term  of  her  natural  life,  and  at  her 
death  the  surplus,  if  there  be  any,  to  be  equally  divided  between  my  three 
youngest  children  or  the  survivor  of  them  as  their  mother  may  appoint;  or 
she  may  apportion  and  distribute  it  according  to  her  own  judgment  of  their 
necessities  and  merits.  One-fourth  of  my  law-books  I  give  to  my  son 
Lewis. 

I  give  my  executors,  or  a  majority  of  them,  or  a  majority  of  the  sur- 
vivors, power  to  sell  or  rent  or  otherwise  dispose  of  or  convert  to  my 
mother's  use,  and  to  invest  or  reinvest  according  to  their  discretion. 

I  appoint  my  friend  Peter  H.  Watson  of  Ashtabula;  the  Honorable 
Andrew  Wylie  and  E.  D.  Townsend  of  Washington,  and  my  wife  Ellen, 
executors  of  this  my  last  will  and  testament. 

Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

Signed,  sealed,  published,  and  declared  by  Edwin  M.  Stanton  as  his 
last  will,  which  we  attest  as  subscribing  witnesses  at  his  request  in  his 
presence  and  the  presence  of  each  other,  this  19th  day  of  July,  1869. 

R.  R.  S.  Harrison, 
George  T.   Chapman, 
J.  K.  Barnes. 

Like  the  traditional  Stanton  will,  the  foregoing  is  exceptional 
for  clearness  and  brevity.  It  is  likewise  notable  for  bequeathing 
one-third  of  his  entire  estate  to  his  aged  mother,  and  nothing,  not 
even  a  portion  of  his  law  library,*  to  his  oldest  son,  Edwin,  who 
was  also  a  lawyer. 

The  court  appointed  as  appraisers  General  J.  K.  Barnes  and 
General  Thomas  M.  Vincent,  who  listed  the  property  of  the  estate 
so  as  to  enable  the  executors  to  turn  over  one-third  to  Stanton's 
mother  and  two-thirds  to  his  widow.  The  Steubenville  house  sold 
for  $7,500;  the  K  Street  house  in  Washington  for  $41,000;  other 
property  for  something  like  $5,000 ;  Congress  voted  to  Mrs.  Stanton 
a  sum  equal  to  the  annual  salary  of  an  associate  justice — $5,000 — 
and  there  was  $10,000  life  insurance,  which  was  promptly  paid. 

Besides,  after  Stanton's  death,  a  testimonial  fund  of  $100,000 
was  raised,  mostly  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  and  Chi- 


*R.  T.  Hunt  of  Pittsburg,  who  settled  the  affairs  of  Shaler,  Stanton, 
and  Umbstaetter  and  delivered  the  Stanton  library  and  papers  in  Washing- 
ton says:  "Mr.  Stanton  had  a  fine  library  and  especially  a  large  and  a  very 
valuable  collection  of  English  reports.  For  several  years  he  spent  all  his 
surplus  earnings  in  buying  anything  that  would  help  him  in  the  great  cases 
in  which  he  appeared  befo'-e  the  United  States  Supreme  Court." 


Oliver  P.  Morton, 
War  Governor  of  Indiana. 


Edwards  Fierrepont. 


PROPERTY— LAST  WILL  413 

cago,  which  sum  was  curtailed  a  little,  however,  by  debts  contracted 
in  Pittsburg  in  1867  and  by  two  or  more  failures  among  subscribers. 
Thus,  although  he  himself  died  in  financial  distress,  his  family 
was  placed  in  permanent  comfort. 


CHAPTER  LXX. 
SIDELIGHTS— GLEAMS  OF  CHARACTER. 

No  man  in  American  history  has  been  so  thoroughly  misunder- 
stood as  Stanton,  Much  as  he  loved  and  trusted  certain  men,  he 
really  trusted  no  man  fully.  One  friend  or  counselor  was  permitted 
to  know  all  about  this  or  that  matter,  and  another  all  about  some- 
thing else ;  but  he  was  completely  confidential  with  no  two  persons 
on  the  same  subject.  Each  man  who  knew  him  at  all  intimately 
knew  things  not  known  to  any  one  else,  and  thus  arose  the  many 
differing  views  which,  however,  are  all  essential  to  the  final  picture 
which  shall  have  some  approach  to  completeness  and  correctness. 

Annie  Collier  Meredith  of  Omaha,  who  was  reared  with  him, 
says: 

Mr.  Stanton  was  an  angel  in  his  family  and  to  the  weak  and  poor,  but 
the  very  fury  in  the  pursuit  of  his  purposes  among  men.  The  exhibition  of 
his  tremendous  energy  sometimes  injured  the  feelings  of  his  best  friends; 
but  he  always  made  amends  afterwards  and  was  grieved  over  the  havoc  that 
had  been  wrought.  One  of  my  childhood  tasks  was  to  recite  Longfellow's 
"Psalm  of  Life"  for  him.     He  liked  the  verse, 

"Trust  no  Future,  howe'er  pleasant! 
Let  the  dead  Past  bury  its  dead! 
Act,  act  in  the  living  Present! 
Heart  within  and  God  o'erhead!" 
When  I  had  finished  he  would  invariably  say,  in  his  impetuous  way, 
"Say  it  again;  please  do."     Then  he  would  look  thoughtful  and  remain  quiet 
for  some  time. 

An  old  friend,  Davison  Filson  of  Steubenville,  Ohio,  contrib- 
utes this : 

When  I  was  carrying  on  house  and  sign  painting  here,  I  did  all  of  Mr. 
Stanton's  work  in  that  line.  He  was  not  a  man  to  dicker  and  try  to  get  his 
work  done  cheap.  He  never  asked  me  what  a  thing  would  cost,  but  ex- 
plained what  he  wanted  and  then,  "Do  it  and  make  out  your  bill."  He 
never  objected  to  or  delayed  paying  a  bill.  He  was  a  man  of  business — 
full  to  over-flowing  all  the  time,  scarcely  taking  time  for  his  meals.     You 


SIDELIGHTS— GLEAMS  OF  CHARACTER  415 

could  never  catch  him  napping.  He  was  always  wide  awake,  and  true  to  his 
convictions  to  a  dot.  When  court  called  he  was  there  and  ready  with  his 
cases,  all  of  them.  In  his  house  I  have  often  been,  and  a  more  pleasant 
home  did  not  exist — all  mildness;  but  when  he  was  among  men  he  was 
another  creature,  exerting  his  great  powers,  and  was  the  leader.  When  he 
was  a  boy  he  was  the  leader  of  boys,  and  that  characteristic  followed  him 
through  life.  He  knew  his  power  and  did  not  hesitate  to  use  it;  the  wreck- 
age thus  made  he  attended  to  later,  after  he  had  won. 

Colonel  Charles  Shaler  of  Washington  recalls  some  of  Stan- 
ton's qualities : 

When  in  partnership  with  my  father,  in  Pittsburg,  it  was  Mr.  Stanton's 
habit,  as  a  Dig  case  came  on,  to  shut  himself  up  in  his  room  over  the  office, 
sending  down  for  the  books  and  papers  that  he  needed,  and  work  night  and 
day  till  his  task  was  done.  As  he  lighted  the  gas  at  such  times,  he  never 
knew  night  from  day.  When  he  emerged  he  was  a  formidable  adversary. 
In  fact  he  was  dreaded  by  all  attorneys,  and  some  of  them  were  careful 
not  to  take  cases  against  him. 

He  studied  as  thoroughly  against  as  for  his  clients  and,  as  father  said, 
always  went  into  court  under  arms,  aggressive,  powerful,  and  destructive, 
losing  sight  of  everything  except  a  determination  to  win.  He  thus  made 
enemies  that  he  really  did  not  deserve  or  wish,  for,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he 
was  the  most  tender  and  kind-hearted  man  in  the  world.  To  me,  and  as  I 
saw  him  in  private  intercourse,  he  was  sweet  and  lovely,  but  I  often  realized 
what  a  rough-riding  bull-dog  he  was  when,  under  full  headway,  he  con- 
tended with  all  his  might  for  his  clients  as  though  life  depended  upon 
winning. 

Thus  David  McGowan  of  Steubenville : 

After  he  had  made  a  great  reputation,  the  toughest  cases  naturally 
came  to  Stanton  for  defense.  I  recall,  however,  when  he  first  began  to 
practise,  that  he  refused  a  very  large  fee  offered  by  a  criminal  for  defense. 
He  said  he  could  better  go  without  money  than  be  defeated,  as  he  certainly 
should  be.  He  wanted  to  acquire  the  reputation  of  being  a  winner,  know- 
ing that  in  time  such  a  reputation  would  bring  fees  enough.  He  practised 
to  the  full  that  part  of  the  ancient  oath  of  an  English  barrister  which 
bound  him  "to  make  war  for  his  clients,"  and  he  cordially  agreed  with 
Lord  Brougham  that  "a  lawyer's  fealty  to  his  client  is  above  that  to  his 
king." 

The  venerable  Judge  Thomas  Mellon  of  Pittsburg  analyzes 
Stanton's  powers : 

Mr.  Stanton's  forte  did  not  lie  in  formal  orations  or  eloquent  display 
of  language,  but  in  plain,  clear,  forcible  statement  and  logical  argument.  On 
these  lines  he  was  nearly  invincible;  and  in  the  examination  or  cross-ex- 


416  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 


amination  of  witnesses  he  was  remarkably  successful  in  getting  out  tes- 
timony to  his  advantage.  He  asked  questions  in  so  plain  and  natural  a 
manner  as  to  disarm  the  witness  of  all  suspicion  of  being  led  into  state- 
ments favoring  the  examiner's  theory. 

This  feature  of  his  skill  resembled  the  precision  of  statement  and  logical 
result  of  a  proposition  in  Euclid.  He  never  became  boisterous,  but  always 
was  so  audible  and  explicit  that  the  court  and  jury  and  those  interested  in 
the  case  could  hear  and  feel  the  force  of  every  word  he  said.  His  speeches 
and  arguments  were  more  noted  for  brevity  than  profusion.  Every  ele- 
ment of  his  argument  seemed  to  fit  its  place  so  well  that  any  other  con- 
clusion than  that  intended  was  precluded. 

He  had  another  element  of  professional  ability  to  a  degree  that  was 
marvelous — preparation.  In  a  few,  brief,  but  pregnant  questions  to  his 
client  he  could  ascertain  clearly  the  leading  principles  involved  in  the  con- 
troversy and  could  state  them  and  place  them  in  the  most  logical  position 
available  for  his  purpose.  When  he  once  settled  on  a  procedure  it  had 
to  go  through  on  the  lines  laid  down  unless  defeated  by  invincible  law  or 
fact  presented  on  the  other  side,  and  he  always  had  his  case  so  well  pre- 
pared before  going  to  trial  that  the  trial  more  resembled  the  placing  of  the 
well-fitting  parts  of  a  complicated  machine  than  the  discussion  of  disputed 
facts  and  legal  propositions. 

Of  course  he  was  successful — more  so  than  any  lawyer  I  ever  knew.  I 
believe  his  executive  ability  was  beyond  any  limit  the  ordinary  mind  can 
fix. 

Judge  William  Johnston  of  Cincinnati  thus  discloses  Stanton's 
sympathetic  heart : 

When  Mr.  Stanton  lived  in  Steubenville  and  practised  law  in  Pittsburg, 
passing  back  and  forth  on  the  river  steamers,  he  found  a  man  lying  on  the 
forward  deck  one  evening,  with  a  broken  leg.  "Why  is  this  sufferer  not  at- 
tended to?"  he  inquired  of  the  captain,  who  replied  that  the  man  lived  in 
Pittsburg  and  would  receive  attention  there.  From  a  carpenter's  chest  he 
secured  a  saw  and  ax  with  which  to  cut  splints,  and,  taking  a  sheet  from  a 
stateroom,  set  and  bandaged  the  fracture.  He  then  brought  vinegar  and 
water  from  the  cook's  room  with  which  to  steep  the  swollen  parts,  and 
during  the  ninety  miles  of  the  trip  from  Steubenville,  sat  by  the  injured  man 
applying  the  bath.  When  the  boat  reached  Pittsburg  he  hired  a  carriage 
and  took  his  patient  home.  And  so  he  was  through  life — great  in  emergen- 
cies, available  when  all  others  failed. 

Reverend  Joseph  Buchanan  of  Steubenville  describes  Stanton's 
habits : 

My  friend  Stanton  was  a  man  of  tenderness  and  austerity.  His  own 
habits  were  exemplary,  and  he  watched  the  morals  of  his  son  Eddie  with 
steady  care.  I  was  Eddie's  tutor  for  several  years.  On  a  certain  oc- 
casion I  wished  him  to  attend  some  lectures  and  experiments  in  chemistry, 


SIDELIGHTS— GLEAMS  OF  CHARACTER  417 

but  since  they  were  to  be  given  at  night,  Stanton  would  not  allow  him  to 
go.  He  said:  "Eddie's  morals  are  paramount  to  all  the  education  he  can 
get."  He  was  afraid  the  boy  would  fall  in  with  bad  company.  He  was  a 
man  of  character,  of  immense  power,  who  feared  nothing. 

Mr.  Stanton  never  passed  a  child  on  the  street  or  elsewhere 
v/ithout  stopping  to  notice  it  and  pat  it  on  the  head.  "If  he  learned 
that  a  child  was  unable  to  attend  school  for  want  of  books,"  says 
Mrs.  Davison  Filson  of  Steubenville,  "his  hand  went  instantly  into 
his  pocket  and  the  want  was  supplied.  He  completely  melted  in 
the  presence  of  children.  He  often  said  that  one  of  the  sweetest 
things  in  the  Bible  is  where  Christ  says :  'Suffer  little  children  to 
come  unto  Me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven.'  " 

Mrs.  E.  D.  N.  Southworth  recalls  her  first  glimpse  of  Stanton: 

In  1857,  I  think,  I  attended  a  reception  given  by  Colonel  John  W.  For- 
ney, in  Washington.  Two  persons  present  attracted  my  attention  and  left 
an  impress  upon  my  mind  that  can  never  be  obliterated.  They  were  Edwin 
M.  Stanton  and  Edwin  Forrest.  Forrest  was  famous,  but  I  had  not  heard 
much  of  Mr.  Stanton.  I  did  little  else  during  the  evening  than  watch  them, 
for  they  seemed  to  be  the  embodiment  of  power.  They  were  revelations 
to  me  in  human  development.  As  part  of  the  literary  exercises  of  the 
evening,  Forrest  recited  "The  Fool  and  his  Dead  Mother"  with  such  strange 
pathos  and  genius  that  I  thought  my  heart  would  break.  Near  me,  in  a 
corner,  stood  Mr.  Stanton;  and  when  I  dared  to  turn  my  eyes  and  saw  tears 
streaming  down  his  face,  I  felt  better,  and  I  loved  him  ever  after.  He  had 
ri  heart  and  was  not  afraid  to  let  the  assemblage  see  that  it  was  human 
and  tender.    All  really  great  men  have  great  and  tender  hearts. 

"Mr.  Stanton  always  had  a  profound  reverence  for  the  Supreme 
Being,"  says  Asa  G.  Dimmock  of  Cadiz,  Ohio,  "but  at  one  time  was 
disinclined  to  regard  the  Bible  as  an  inspired  work.  Finally  he  took 
a  copy  of  it  into  a  room  in  his  dwelling,  and,  turning  the  key,  re- 
solved not  to  come  forth  until  he  had  satisfied  himself  on  that  point. 
He  continued  in  his  room  so  long  a  time  that  his  young  wife  be- 
came alarmed,  fearing  he  was  going  crazy.  He  emerged  at  last 
fully  satisfied  that  the  Bible  is  what  it  purports  to  be,  the  Word  of 
God,  and  he  never  thereafter  doubted." 

Major  A.  E.  H.  Johnson,  who  associated  with  Stanton  for  a 
dozen  years,  says  he  "never  heard  the  Secretary  use  an  oath  but 
once  and  that  was  the  single  expletive  'damn.' "  One  day  an 
orderly  rushed  to  the  Secretary's  house  with  the  cry  that  the  War 
Department  was  on  fire.     Mr.  Stanton  left  his  dinner  and  ran  his 


418  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

team  to  the  office,  where  he  found  a  room  next  to  his  own  fillea  with 
fire  and  smudge  from  a  pile  of  papers  ignited  by  the  pipe  of  a  cer- 
tain general.  "He  was  furious,"  says  Major  Johnson,  "and,  sending 
for  Adjutant-General  Townsend,  exclaimed :  'Turn  out  that  damn 
creature  with  the  pipe ;  find  quarters  for  him  outside  of  the  build- 
ing,' and  it  was  done,  for  the  old  building  was  a  tinder-box." 

Dr.  William  P.  Johnston  of  Washington,  who  attended  Mrs. 
Stanton  during  a  serious  illness  in  1860,  says  Stanton  watched  by 
the  bedside  of  his  wife  incessantly,  tears  falling  when  her  sufferings 
were  severe.  "I  was  from  the  South,"  he  says,  "so  when  the  Con- 
federate prisoners  began  to  arrive  and  need  medical  assistance,  I  se- 
cured permission  to  attend  them.  From  his  own  purse  he  contrib- 
uted fifty  dollars  to  a  fund  to  be  expended  by  F.  B.  McGuire,  Dr. 
Jas.  C.  Hall,  and  myself  for  those  requiring  special  foods  and  deli- 
cacies. He  was  very  high-minded  and  generous,  and  those  Con- 
federates who  really  knew  him  permit  nothing  to  be  said  about  him 
that  is  disrespectful." 

"When  I  was  ill,  yet  trying  to  operate  my  telegraph  instrument 
in  the  War  Department,"  says  A.  J.  Safford  of  Washington,  "Mr. 
Stanton  sent  his  own  physician  to  prescribe  for  me  and  came  every 
day  to  my  table  inquiring  kindly  how  I  was  getting  along,  and  what 
I  intended  to  do  when  the  war  closed.  He  was  equally  solicitous 
for  others  if  they  were  in  trouble  or  distress.  He  may  have  seemed 
to  those  who  did  not  know  him,  like  Cardinal  Wolsey,  'lofty  and 
sour' ;  but  to  those  who  knew  him  he  was  'sweet  as  summer.'  " 

Adjutant-General  Townsend  remembers  that  soon  after  hostili- 
ties ceased  he  laid  before  Stanton  the  findings  of  a  court-martial 
which  condemned  a  soldier  to  be  shot.  "Usually,"  says  the  Gen- 
eral, "which  fact  gave  commanders  such  great  strength  in  the  field, 
the  Secretary  never  reversed  the  findings  of  his  officers ;  but  this 
time  he  drew  back  in  horror.  'Blood  enough,  blood  enough,'  was  all 
he  said,  and  the  man  was  not  shot."  In  armed  conflict  he  was  the 
ideal  embodiment  of  aggressive  ferocity,  of  the  spirit  of  war,  but  "in 
peace  shuddered  at  the  sight  or  thought  of  blood  and  his  heart  was 
wrung  by  the  pains  and  sorrows  even  of  strangers." 

William  H.  Whiton,  who  was  chief  clerk  in  the  office  of  Mili- 
tary Railways  during  the  Rebellion,  and  knew  the  inner  workings  of 
the  War  Department  intimately,  relates  this  incident: 

I  went  to  the  War  Office  after  10  o'clock,  one  night,  to  consult  Mr. 
Stanton.    I  found  the  mother,  wife,  and  children  of  a  soldier  who  had  been 


SIDELIGHTS— GLEAMS  OF  CHARACTER  41& 

condemned  to  be  shot  as  a  deserter,  on  their  knees  before  him  pleading 
for  the  life  of  their  loved  one.  He  listened  standing,  in  cold  and  austere 
silence,  and  at  the  end  of  their  heart-breaking  sobs  and  prayers  answered 
briefly  that  the  man  must  die.  The  crushed  and  despairing  little  family 
left  and  Mr.  Stanton  turned,  apparently  unmoved,  and  walked  into  his 
private  room.  My  own  heart  was  wrung  with  anguish.  It  seemed  to  me 
that  Mr.  Stanton  must  be  a  demon — the  very  incarnation  of  cruelty  and 
tyranny. 

I  was  so  dazed  that,  forgetting  myself,  I  followed  him  into  his  office 
without  rapping.  I  found  him  leaning  over  a  desk,  his  face  buried  in  his 
hands  and  his  heavy  frame  shaking  with  sobs.  "God  help  me  to  do  my 
duty;  God  help  me  to  do  my  duty!"  he  was  repeating  in  a  low  wail  of  an- 
guish that  I  shall  never  forget.  I  quickly  withdrew,  but  not  until  I  had  seen 
a  great  light.  I  have  loved,  almost  reverenced  Edwin  M.  Stanton  ever  since. 
His  own  heart  perhaps  was  suffering  more  intense  agony  than  the  hearts  of 
his  humble  petitioners,  but  he  was  compelled  to  steel  his  outward  face  for 
the  bloody  duties  of  war,  while  within,  his  soul  was  warm  with  sympathy 
and  sorrow  for  its  victims. 

The  War  Office  austerity  mentioned  by  so  many  was  assumed 
as  an  unavoidable  duty.  He  did  not  care  to  attract  the  public  or 
create  friendships ;  his  time  could  not  be  taken  from  his  duties  for 
personal  intercourse  or  his  judgment  warped  by  personal  affections. 
He  did  not  joke  or  play  or  rest  when  there  was  duty  to  perform, 
but  submerged  heart  and  soul  in  a  supreme  effort  to  restore  the 
Union.  To  Samuel  Hooper,  congressman  from  Massachusetts,  he 
said  in  1867 :  "I  have  not  seen  a  bright  and  happy  day  since  I  en- 
tered the  cabinet  and  not  a  well  day  since  childhood.  If  the  pyra- 
mids were  upon  my  heart,  the  load  would  be  light  compared  to  the 
weight  of  perplexity  and  anxiety  I  have  to  bear." 

D.  Homer  Bates  of  New  York,  born  in  Stanton's  native  city,  a 
cipher  operator  and  translator  in  the  War  Office  from  the  beginning 
to  the  close  of  the  Rebellion,  testifies  that  the  Secretary's  austere 
and  sometimes  imperious  official  manner  was  a  necessary  armament 
of  the  hour.  Reporting  one  evening  at  the  Soldiers'  Home  with  im- 
portant messages,  he  found  Stanton  entirely  relaxed  and  playing  on 
the  grass  with  one  of  his  children.  "He  invited  me  to  a  seat  on  the 
sward,"  says  Mr.  Bates,  "and,  after  we  had  finished  our  business, 
proposed  a  game  of  'mumble  the  peg,'  which  he  entered  into  with 
the  relish  of  a  boy." 

Colonel  J.  B.  Montgomery  of  Portland,  Oregon,  relates  that  on 
entering  the  War  Department  one  day  he  found  the  Secretary  "half- 
dead"  with  congestive  asthma.  "In  response  to  my  inquiry  he  said 
that  he  had  made  a  quick  journey  to  Ohio  to  surprise  his  aged 


420  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

mother  on  her  birth-day,  as  he  always  felt  that  each  one  might  be 
her  last,  and  the  sudden  change  resulted  in  a  congestive  chill.  'I 
went  by  night  and  returned  by  night,'  said  he,  'and  gave  mother 
great  delight;  but  you  see  the  price  I  have  to  pay.'  " 

"William  Stanton  Buchanan,  who  knew  him  intimately  from 
childhood,  says  Stanton,  while  very  sparing  in  his  own  expenditures, 
was  generous  with  his  family  and  to  the  poor.  "Every  year  scores 
of  turkeys  were  sent  by  him  to  humble  cottagers  who  knew  no  other 
Christmas  bounty.  He  was  a  mastodon  among  his  adversaries,  but 
a  good  Samaritan  among  the  weak  and  distressed.  He  was  predis- 
posed to  insanity  in  times  of  distress,  but  otherwise  possessed  a 
brain  of  divine  clearness  and  power." 

An  attractive  picture  of  the  real  Stanton  is  drawn  by  Mrs.  Gen- 
eral Rufus  Saxton  of  Washington,  as  follows : 

Secretary  Stanton  was  our  guest  at  Beaufort,  North  Carolina,  in  Jan- 
uary, 1865.  On  arriving  he  said  that  fatigue  would  compel  him  to  retire 
early;  but  after  dinner,  entering  our  bare,  uncarpeted  sitting-room,  with 
its  few  dim  candles  but  a  large  wood  fire  on  the  broad  hearth,  he  sat  down 
in  front  of  the  blaze  and  chatted  brightly.  Examining  the  books  on  the 
table,  his  face  grew  animated  and  he  exclaimed:  "Ah.  here  are  old  friends," 
and  taking  up  a  volume  of  Macaulay's  poems,  he  turned  to  me,  saying:  "I 
know  j'ou  love  poetry.  Pray  read  us  something — anything.  Poetry  and 
this  fire  belong  together."  I  read  "Horatius  at  the  Bridge,"  and  returning 
the  book  to  him,  said:  "I  know  you  love  poetry,  Mr.  Stanton;  please  read 
to  us."  He  at  once  complied,  reading  finely  "The  Battle  of  Ivry"  and  other 
poems. 

He  was  in  his  most  genial  mood.  Every  nerve  seemed  relaxed;  and 
as  one  after  another  of  the  numerous  guests  departed,  he  still  sat  in  front 
of  the  dying  embers  till  long  after  midnight,  repeating  snatches  of  poetry 
or  indulging  in  that  "leisurely  speech  or  the  higher  power  of  silence — the 
quiet  evening  shared  bj'  ruminating  friends." 

The  next  morning  we  drove  him  out  on  the  "Shell  Road,"  where  the 
live-oaks  were  draped  with  graceful  gray  moss,  the  birds  singing  and  the 
air  was  soft  and  bland.  His  capacity  for  enjoyment  seemed  intense.  He 
leaned  back  silent  in  the  carriage,  gazing  at  the  blue  sky,  seeming  in  spirit 
to  "soar  with  the  bird  and  flutter  with  the  leaf."  The  Titan  War  Secre- 
tary was  replaced  by  the  genial  companion,  the  man  of  letters,  the  lover 
of  nature — the  real  Stanton,  who  expressed  again  and  again  his  rapturous 
enjoj-ment  of  the  surroundings. 

Tracing  his  prodigious  labors  has  developed  so  any  surprises 
that  there  seems  to  be  room  for  nothing  additional  in  that  line.  Yet, 
considering  the  pressure  and  multiplicity  of  his  duties,  the  omni- 
presence of  his  solicitude  for  those  on  whom  the  nation  depended 


Stanton's  Tomb,  Oak  Hii.i.  Cemetery, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


SIDELIGHTS— GLEAMS  OF  CHARACTER  421 

for  its  life  is  indeed  surprising.  Whenever  Lincoln  moved  away 
from  the  White  House  he  knew  of  it  and  provided  one  or  more 
trustworthy  officers  to  watch  and  protect  him ;  he  sent  warnings  to 
him  by  telegraph  to  keep  away  from  the  missiles  of  battle  at  the 
front ;  he  frequently  advised,  almost  commanded  Grant  to  avoid 
exposure  to  death  ;  while  watching  Lincoln's  life-blood  ebb  away  at 
midnight  he  lifted  himself  out  of  the  confusion  of  the  hour  to  tele- 
graph precautions  for  the  safety  of  Grant,  then  en  route  from  Phila- 
delphia to  Washington ;  he  created  time  to  visit  or  write  to  every 
sick  or  wounded  officer  and,  when  battles  were  in  progress,  stood  at 
the  telegraph  instruments  night  and  day  urging  extra  energy  in 
bringing  away  and  caring  for  the  wounded. 

His  mind  was  literally  everywhere.  No  dangers  arose  that  he 
did  not  recognize  or  had  not  anticipated.  For  instance,  although  he 
had  not  slept  since  the  night  of  April  13, 1865,  and  was  concentrating 
every  power  of  the  Government  and  every  resource  of  his  nature  to 
capture  Lincoln's  assassins,  he  still  remembered  his  generals  in  the 
field,  telegraphing  to  Hancock  on  April  16:  "It  may  be  useless  to 
caution  an  old  soldier  like  yourself  to  guard  against  surprise  or  dan- 
ger in  holding  an  interview  with  Mosby,  but  the  recent  murders 
show  such  astounding  wickedness  that  too  much  precaution  cannot 
be  taken."  And  to  Sherman  he  telegraphed  on  the  15th:  "I  find 
evidence  that  an  assassin  is  on  your  track  and  beseech  you  to  be 
more  heedful  than  Mr.  Lincoln  was  of  such  knowledge." 

And  thus  he  was  throughout  the  war,  forgetting  nobody — save 
himself! 

L.  A.  Somers  of  Cleveland  describes  Stanton's  last  visit  to 
Ohio : 

When  the  elections  of  October,  1868,  which  were  expected  to  indicate 
whether  General  Grant  would  be  elected  president  in  November,  were  in 
progress,  Mr.  Stanton  was  the  guest  at  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  of  Peter  H.  Wat- 
son. General  Anson  Stager,  manager  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph 
Company,  as  a  compliment,  strung  wires  so  Mr.  Stanton  could  hear  the 
election  returns  in  Mr.  Watson's  house.  I  had  been  an  operator  in  the  War 
Department  and  was  sent  to  receive  the  returns,  becoming  also  Mr.  Wat- 
son's guest. 

While  Mr.  Stanton's  face  was  unwrinkled  and  his  ej-es  bright  and 
keen,  he  seemed  worn  out  and  exhausted,  and  kept  almost  constantly  in  his 
room,  breathing  heavily  and  with  great  difficulty.  He  was  very  cheerful 
and  affable  while  listening  to  the  returns  amidst  fifty  or  sixty  guests,  among 
them  Senator  B.  F.  Wade,  and  seemed  much  pleased  to  note  the  increased 


422  EDWIN  McMASTERS  STANTON 

Republican  majorities  at  points  where  he  had  spoken;  but  he  was  modest, 
not  posing  as  a  great  man  or  claiming  any  particular  credits. 

As  the  wires  were  not  removed  for  several  days,  I  saw  considerable  of 
him.  He  was  cheery  and  pleasant,  free  from  rancor  and  apparently  at  peace 
with  the  world.  He  was  inviting,  kind,  and  considerate — in  very  strong  con- 
trast to  the  aggressive  engine  I  had  seen  (when  an  operator  in  the  War 
Department)  driving  the  blood-letting  machinery  of  the  war.  His  intellect 
was  masculine  and  powerful,  but  there  was  something  almost  womanly  in 
the  kindly  and  sympathetic  quality  of  his  intercourse.  He  was,  and  I  saw 
him  in  both  situations,  as  sweet  and  gentle  in  private  as  he  was  unyielding 
and  omnipotent  in  public.  When  I  left  Mr.  Watson's  he  came  out  to  the  car- 
riage to  bid  me  good-bye,  and  I  never  saw  him  again. 

"Through  Mr.  Stanton's  hands,"  says  General  E.  D.  Townsend, 
"poured  myriads  of  orders — the  suspensions,  promotions,  dismis- 
sals, arrests,  and  pardons  of  the  great  Rebellion — yet  he  made  fewer 
mistakes  than  any  of  his  contemporaries,  not  one  of  whom  had  a 
hundredth  of  his  duties  and  responsibilities." 

"The  Secretary  was  not  a  man  of  hasty  judgment,"  says  Gen- 
'eral  T.  M.  Vincent,  who  knew  him  from  childhood,  "and  he  did  not 
make  mistakes,  never  a  serious  mistake.  He  acted  quickly,  but  he 
possessed  the  capacity  to  do  so,  and  he  knew  the  details  of  the  enor- 
mous operations  of  the  War  Department  so  perfectly  that  generally 
his  acts  required  no  premeditation.  He  swept  through  the  volumi- 
nous volunteer  code,  revamping  and  amending  it,  in  fifteen  minutes, 
and  it  stands  to  this  day  a  fine  example  of  comprehension  and  per- 
fection." 

Colonel  John  W.  Forney  thus  describes  Stanton :    \ 

He  thought  quickly  and  wrote  strongly.  He  could  give  the  keynote 
for  a  campaign,  which,  sounded  in  the  columns  of  a  newspaper,  would  thrill 
a  continent.  It  will  be  years  before  his  biography  can  be  written  or  his 
measure  taken.  He  died  with  a  reputation  that  will  live  as  long  as  our 
liberties,  and  yet  with  less  available  incident  to  delineate  his  great  deeds 
than  has  ever  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  public  man.  The  mere  statement  of 
a  fact  so  uncommon  is  the  best  portrait  of  Edwin  M.  Stanton.  His  ex- 
ample is  stamped  over  the  whole  volume  of  the  war.  It  was  infused  into  the 
cabinet;  it  fired  the  armies;  it  uplifted  the  people;  it  made  integrity  the  road 
to  honor  in  civil  as  it  did  valor  in  military  life;  it  taught  the  public  man 
the  great  lesson  of  disinterestedness;  it  shamed  the  aspirant  for  office  into 
self-sacrifice  and  by  its  own  complete  surrender  to  country,  made  patriotism 
a  vital  element  of  the  nation's  strength. 

Albert  Gallatin  Riddle  draws  this  vivid  picture: 

Up-stairs  in  a  dingy  office  on  Seventeenth  Street  throbbed  and  worked 
the  heart  and  brain,  the  mighty  main-spring  that  drove  with  terrible  energy 


SIDELIGHTS— GLEAMS  OF  CHARACTER  423 

the  gigantic  machinery  of  the  war;  and  there  never  was  a  time  under  the 
severest  pressure,  that  there  did  not  still  lie  unemployed  in  the  man  energy 
and  power  enough  to  propel  the  governmental  machinery  of  the  civilized 
world.  Men  say  that  he  was  rough.  Of  course  he  was.  He  was  a  primal 
force  of  nature,  used  to  break  up  the  old  crust  of  the  earth,  throw  up  new 
mountains  and  change  the  configuration  of  a  continent.  I  fancy  him  in 
twilight  solitude,  by  some  sounding  sea,  quarrying  a  mountain,  and  throw- 
ing up  a  giant's  causeway  in  a  single  night! 

The  extinction  of  the  Rebellion  by  force — that  was  his  task,  and  no 
fateful  destiny  ever  moved  more  inexorably  than  he  in  its  performance. 
He  could  see  and  hear  and  know  nothing  else;  whatever  would  help  he  used, 
and  whatever  would  hinder  was  ruthlessly  thrust  by;  nothing  could  deter  or 
divert.  Though  the  earth  wavered  like  a  storm-tossed  sea,  he  stood  firm; 
though  it  was  covered  with  dead  men,  he  saw  them  not;  though  the  bosom 
of  the  storm  discharged  fire  and  blood  and  gobbets  of  human  flesh,  he 
seemed  unconscious  of  it. 

Mr.  Riddle's  hyperbolical  description  contains  much  truth.  If 
the  Rebellion  had  been  a  contest  with  a  foreign  foe  and  Stanton,  in 
health,  had  been  sustained  by  the  whole  people  united  and  enthusi- 
astic, how  glorious,  how  unapproachable,  would  have  been  his 
achievements ! 

While  no  study  of  Stanton's  character  has  been  complete,  all 
who  have  made  an  examination  of  his  qualities  without  prejudice 
agree  that  he  was  a  human  Gibraltar.  But  even  Gibraltar  shakes 
when  the  earthquake  comes.  When  his  wife  Mary  died  in  1844,  his 
passionate  grief  was  so  deep  and  terrible  that,  for  two  or  three  days, 
his  mind  was  unbalanced;  and  so  it  was,  in  a  lesser  degree,  when 
his  brother  Darwin  died  by  his  own  hand  in  1845.  In  July,  1862, 
when  General  McClellan  sent  word  by  his  father-in-law  that  unless 
he  could  have  "immediate  relief"  and  be  free  from  orders  and  control 
from  Washington,  he  should  surrender  his  armies  to  Lee,  Stanton, 
having  a  dying  child  in  his  house,  was  swayed  mightily. 

For  a  moment  his  soul  wavered  (though  the  world  could  not 
possibly  suspect  it)  when  Lincoln  fell  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin. 
That  blow,  upsetting  the  plans  of  years,  swept  away  the  masts,  sails, 
anchors,  and  compasses  and  compelled  him  to  make  a  new  beginning 
of  the  Federal  fabric,  himself  a  wreck,  upon  a  mass  of  wreckage. 

However,  nothing  checked  him.  He  was  always  busy,  always 
pushing.  He  utilized  every  moment,  realizing  that  just  ahead,  at 
a  fixed  spot  almost  in  sight,  was  the  end,  the  grave ;  and  he  knew, 
therefore,  that  the  greatest  success  would  come  to  him  who  wasted 
the  fewest  moments. 


424  EDWIN  McM ASTERS  STANTON 

As  he  squandered  no  time,  so  he  wasted  no  words.  In  the  War 
Office  the  single  word  "rebel"  was  all  he  ever  used  to  designate  the 
secessionists,  no  matter  whether  inditing  a  gazette  or  composing  a 
bill  to  be  enacted  into  a  law  by  Congress.  This  habit  of  employing 
condensed  phrases  and  shot-like  sentences  made  his  writings  and 
utterances  seem  dramatic,  yet  they  were  merely  direct,  powerful, 
time-saving,  natural. 

He  loved  intensely,  planned  to  win,  believed  he  was  right,  and 
was  impatient  of  delay.  He  thought  that  sweeping  away  all  ob- 
stacles in  a  direct  line  to  success  was  just,  and,  being  a  man  of  per- 
ception and  comprehension,  foresaw  conclusions  and  results  where 
others  were  compelled  to  grope  to  them.  To  him  all  things  were 
clear  and  in  the  War  Office  the  time  was  war  time  ;  therefore  he 
used  concentrated  and  emphatic  expressions  which,  in  this  less  in- 
tense and  sensational  day,  seem  vehement  or  extravagant.  His 
blows  were  like  the  strokes  of  the  weaver's  beam  ;  every  impact  was 
felt  to  the  center. 

He  wanted  fighting  everywhere,  by  everybody,  all  the  time. 
As  he  was  always  strung  up  to  push,  to  rush  the  war,  he  could  not 
fully  relax  when  he  turned  aside  suddenly  to  indite  a  letter  or  issue 
a  bulletin,  but  unconsciously  fused  these  lesser  communications  by 
the  terrible  intensity  of  his  processes  into  the  bolts  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  use  in  the  War  Office. 

It  is  noticeable  that,  so  far  as  known,  no  member  of  the  Lin- 
coln or  Johnson  cabinets  save  Salmon  P.  Chase  ever  spoke  kindly 
or  favorably  of  Stanton.  Of  course  not.  They  hated  him.  He  was 
too  big  for  them — a  great,  brainy  bull-dog  in  the  cabinet  and  an  ir- 
resistible force  in  the  War  Office.  They  felt  dwarfed  by  his  over- 
mastering character  and  jealous  of  the  power  and  influence  that  na- 
turally flowed  from  as  well  as  toward  him.  They  were  too  little  to 
see  as  he  saw,  to  comprehend  as  he  comprehended ;  too  weak  to 
strike  the  lesser  anvils  of  their  duties  in  unison  with  the  tremendous 
blows  that  he  dealt  day  and  night  to  the  enemies  of  his  country  ;  too 
shallow  to  brush  aside,  as  he  did  on  great  occasions,  the  gathering 
cycles  of  time  and  reach  futurity  at  a  single  bound. 

Such  men  make  enemies  as  well  as  victories.  Others  were  car- 
ried forward  by  the  gale  ;  Stanton  was  the  gale  itself.  His  colossal 
work,  pursued  with  masterful  energy  night  and  day,  was  wrath- 
provoking.  Those  who  sued  for  favors,  those  who  wanted  special 
privileges  and  those  who  desired  to  modify  the  war  policy  of  the 


SIDELIGHTS— GLEAMS  OF  CHARACTER  425 

Government  or  break  the  rules  of  the  mihtary  establishment  for 
their  own  benefit,  were  swept  off  their  feet  and  out  of  sight.  If  they 
ever  reappeared,  it  was  as  critics  and  enemies  of  the  giant  who  was 
striving  for  his  people  at  a  time  when  every  day  was  a  year  and 
every  act  a  foundation-stone  in  the  nation's  history. 

He  was  always  great  when  others  were  little.  Disaster  and 
opposition  but  roused  the  mightier  measures  of  his  power,  and  when 
others  were  defeated  and  depressed,  he  was  puissant,  supreme. 
Standing  in  the  narrow  gorge  of  the  War  Office,  he  heroically 
stemmed  the  headlong  stream  of  tremendous  events,  successfully  di- 
rected the  burning  wheels  of  national  wrath  and  fixed  the  destiny 
of  freedom  in  the  New  World.  Full  of  the  spirit  of  power,  he  ever 
bore  with  him  the  conscience  of  his  fight,  and  one  day  will, 

Like  some  tall  cliff  that   rears  its  awful   form. 
Swells  from  the  vale  and  midway  meets  the  storm, 

be  the  most  majestic  figure  of  the  century. 

The  Republic  is  his  monument ;  the  Rebellion  is  his  biography. 


CHAPTER  LXXI. 
STORM-SWEPT. 

It  was  snowing  and  blustering  on  the  day  Stanton  was  born — 
December  19,  1814;  blowing  and  drifting  on  the  evening  of  his  mar- 
riage— December  31,  1836 ;  sleeting  and  gusty  on  the  day  his  wife 
Mary  was  buried — March,  1844;  dangerously  tempestuous  during 
his  ocean  trip  to  California  in  1858 ;  snowing  and  drifting  when  he 
was  summoned  from  Pittsburg  to  a  place  in  Buchanan's  cabinet  in 
December,  1860 ;  blowing  a  gale  when  he  was  selected  to  be  secre- 
tary of  war  in  Lincoln's  cabinet  in  January,  1862 ;  snow-squalling 
and  boisterous  when,  just  a  week  later,  he  took  the  cabinet  minis- 
ter's oath  of  ofifice ;  cyclonic  the  night  he  steamed  down  the  Chesa- 
peake to  capture  Norfolk  and  sink  the  Mcrrimac  in  May,  1862 ;  rainy 
and  stormy  when  President  Grant  selected  him  to  be  an  associate 
justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  in  December,  1869 ; 
witheringly  cold  and  windy  when  (December  20)  he  arose  from  the 
sick-bed  to  go  to  the  White  House  to  thank  Grant  in  person  for  the 
honor  thus  conferred  upon  him  ;  sleeting  and  storming  on  the  night 
of  his  death  (December  24,  1869)  and  cold,  foggy,  drizzling,  and 
gloomy  on  the  day  of  his  burial — December  27,  1869. 

Every  hour  of  his  public  service — Prosecuting-Attorney  of  Har- 
rison County,  Ohio ;  Public  Prosecutor  of  Steubenville ;  Govern- 
ment Attorney  in  the  enormous  California  land  frauds ;  Attorney- 
General  in  Buchanan's  cabinet ;  Secretary  of  War  under  Lincoln 
and  Secretary  of  War  under  Johnson — was  a  contest  with  the  ene- 
mies of  his  country  and  of  society. 

He  was  racked  by  asthma  from  childhood ;  denounced  and  as- 
sailed incessantly  during  his  entire  career  as  Secretary  of  War; 
crowded  out  of  office  after  a  stormy  but  patriotic  struggle  in  which 
he  prevented  President  Johnson  from  seizing  the  army,  shackling 
Congress,  and  renewing  the  war ;  and,  then,  worn  out,  poor,  and 
broken-hearted,  laid  down  to  die. 

After  life's  fitful  fever,  he  sleeps  well. 


INDEX 


Ableman  vs.  Booth,  135. 

Adams,  C.  F.,  285. 

Adams  Express  Co.,  244. 

Adams,  J.  E.,  85. 

Alabama,  97,  102,  316. 

Alameda,  72. 

Albany,  87,  245. 

Alexandria,  149,  174,  175,  176,  177, 
178,   349,   402. 

Allegheny,  Arsenal,  84. 

Allegheny,  County,  53. 

Allison,  W.  R.,  345. 

Amendment  (Trumbull)  of  Consti- 
tution, 21. 

Ames,  E.  R.,  229,  371,  372. 

Anderson,  Lewis,  22. 

Anderson,  Robert,  85,  86,  87,  92, 
93,  94,  95,  96,  98,  274,  275. 

Andersonville,  233,  236,  238. 

Andrew,  John  A.,  135,  136,  137,  405. 

Andrews,  Colonel,  242. 

Andrews,  E.  P.,  61. 

Andrews  House,  39,  79. 

Andrews,  John,  359. 

Annapolis,  234. 

Antietam,   191,   192,   232. 

Appomattox,  263,  379. 

Aquia  Creek,  173,  174. 

Arkansas,  232,  316,  354. 

Army,  Confederate  (see  Confed- 
eracy). 

Army,  Corps  Sixth,  388. 

Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  273. 

Army  of  the  Cumberland,  21,  203, 
204,  207,  226,  349. 

Army  of  the  James,  222,  395. 

Army  of  the  Potomac,  140,  142,  149, 
158,  171,  172,  176,  179,  193,  194, 
199,  203,  222,  227,  352,  357,  378, 
395. 

Army  of  the  Tennessee,  395. 

Army  of  the  West,  142. 

Arnold,  Samuel,  286,  287. 

Arsenal,  Allegheny,  84. 
Arsenal,  Indianapolis,  251. 
Ashley,    J.    M.,    187,    190,    312,    313, 

339,  403,  404. 
Ashtabula,   313,   399,   412,   421. 
Aspinwall,  W.  H.,  180,  193. 


Asthma,  27,  31,  45,  73,  324,  395,  400, 

419,  426. 
Atlantic  and   Ohio  Telegraph   Co., 

216. 
Atlantic,  Department  of  the,  331. 
Attorney-General, 

Bates,  Edward,  119,  177,  271. 

Black,  J.  S.,  67. 

Speed,  Jas.,  287,  303. 

Stanbery,  Henry,  316,  317,  340. 

Stanton,  E.  M.,  19,  82,  87,  88,  93, 
98,    112,   385,   426. 
Atzerot,  G.   B.,  286. 
Augur,   C.   C.,  279. 
Augusta,  A.  T.,  189. 


Badeau,  Adam,  305,  368,  380. 

Baglioli,  73. 

Baker,  L.  C,  255,  281,  294. 

Baldwin,    G.    W.,   222. 

Balls'  Bluff,  135. 

Baltic,  The,  107. 

Baltimore,     36,     96,     115,     152,     166, 

201,    277,    287,    342,    346,    352,    356, 

362,  371,  372,  391,  409. 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  281, 

354,   356. 
Baltimore  Patriot,  96.    ' 
Baltimore  Sun,  193. 
Bank, 

Farmers'  and  Mechanics',  32. 

Harrison   National,   34. 

National  Metropolitan,  344. 

Of  Pittsburg,  24,  353. 

Of  Steubenville,  36. 

Of  the  United  States,  43. 

Riggs  and  Co.,  344. 
Banks,  N.  P.,  150,  203,  232,  382,  401. 
Barlow,  S.  L.  M.,  116,  121,  122,  123, 

130,  197,  391. 
Barnard,  J.  C,  138,  139. 
Barnes,  Dr.,  46. 

Barnes,    J.    K.,    143,    282,    283,    294, 
310,  365,  403,  408,  409,  411,  412. 
Barnwell,  R.  W.,  85,  87,  94. 
Bat,  The,  261. 
Batcheler,  C.  W.,  55. 
Bates,  D.   H.,  217,  219,  222,  419. 
Bates,    Edward,   119,   177. 
Baton   Rouge,  339, 


Battles   and    Leaders    of   the    Civil 

War,  121,  ISO. 
Battle  of 

Antietam,  192,  232. 
Balls'   Blufif,  135. 
Bull  Run,  109,  366. 
Fort  Donelson,  384. 
Gettysburg,  142. 
Island  No.  10,  371. 
Manassas,  386. 
Pea  Ridge,  371. 
Pittsburg  Landing,  371. 
Shiloh,   143,   368. 
South  Mountain,  192. 
Vicksburg,   384. 
Baxter,  Mr.,  387. 
Beatty,  Mrs.  Hetty,  23. 
Beaufort,  N.  C,  25,  420. 
Beauregard,  P.  T.,  110,  395. 
Beckwith,  S.  H.,  220. 
Beecher,  H.  W.,  212,  274,  371. 
Belknap,  W.  W.,  409. 
Bell,  John,  80. 
Belle  Isle,  233. 
Bellows,  H.  W.,  371. 
Benjamin.  J.   P..  229,  242. 
Bennett.  James  Gordon,  108.  109. 
Bible,  The,  22,  24,  48,   76,  373,   396, 

417. 
Bingham,  J.  A.,  286,  340. 
Black,   J.    S.,    60,    67,    70.   82,    S3,   89, 
90,   93,   94,   97,    101,   106,    131,    132, 
303,    320,    322,    326,    331,    332,    340, 
359. 
Blackhorse  Squadron,  280. 
Elaine.  J.   G..   140. 
Blair,  F.  P..  149,  257,  298,  367. 
Blair,    Montgomery,    117.    119,    ^23, 

178,  212,  255,  303,  320,  367,  392. 
Blake,  J.   B.,  344. 
Blenker,  Louis,  138. 
Bodine.  W.  B.,  349. 
Booth,  J.  Wilkes,  264,  276,  277,  278, 

285,    286. 
Boston,  188,  294,  324. 
Bowie,  Miss,  408. 
Boyce,  W.  M.,  103. 
Boyle,  J.  T..  204. 
Brady,  J.  T.,  215,  242. 
Bragg,  Braxton,  232. 
Bridgeport,   Conn.,  286. 
Brisbane   (Brisbin).  John  S.,  309. 
British    (see   England). 
Breckinridge,  John  C,  80,  263,  267. 
Bronson,  Rev.  S.  A.,  28. 
BrooklvH,  The.  93.  99,  131. 
Brooks,  W.  T.  H.,  198. 
Brough,    Gov.    John,    244,    356,    367. 
Brougham,  Lord,  415. 
Brown,  John,  102. 
Brown,  Mrs.  Warner,  22. 
Brown,  Samuel  AI.,  217. 
Brown,  Wm.,  45. 


Buchanan,  Jas.,  19,  20,  60,  67,  73, 
82,  83,  85,  86,  87,  88,  89,  90,  91, 
93,  94,  95,  98,  99,  100,  102,  103, 
105,  108,  111,  112,  117,  131,  254, 
284,    316,    359,    385,    391,   426. 

Buchanan,  Jas.,  Jr.,  68,  72. 

Buchanan,  The  Rev.  E.  Y.,  68. 

Buchanan,  The  Rev.  Geo.,  22,  23, 
56. 

Buchanan,  The  Rev.  Joseph,  23,  39, 
416. 

Buchanan,  Wm.  Stanton,  38,  39,  51, 
79,  144.  402,  420. 

Buchanan's  Defense,  108. 

Buckalew.  C.  R..  343. 

Buckner,  S.  B.,  130. 

Buell.   M.  V.   B.,  222. 

Bull  Run.  Battle  of,  109,  366. 

Burgoyne,  W.  R.,  276. 

Burlington,   254,   279,   282. 

Burnett.  H.  L.,  286. 

Burnett.  Mayor,  163. 

Burns.   Robert.  40. 

Burnside.  A.  E.,  147,  152,  173,  194, 
204,    382. 

Butler,  Benjamin  F.,  20,  89,  139, 
144,  148,  152,  182,  186,  231,  234, 
242,  254,  297,  340,  362,  363,  364, 
391. 

Butler,  Colonel,  363,  364. 

Butler,  "General,  in  New  Orleans," 
152. 

Butler.  Mayor,  163. 


Cabell,  Mary  Virginia  Ellet,  164. 
Cadiz,  32,  33,  34,  35,  36,  40,  42,  385, 

417. 
Cady,  J.,  34. 
Cady,  Wm.,  34. 
Caldwell,  A.  H.,  222. 
Calhoun,  Fort,  382. 
Calhoun,   J.    C,   27. 
California,  20,  60.  65,  67,  71,  72,  80, 

107,   118,   131,   426. 
California    Land   Cases,   66,    67,   72, 

80,    426. 
Campbell,    John    A.,    107,    108,    112, 

269,  271. 
Canada,  121,  240,  250,  254,  285,  359, 

393. 
Canadian   Rebellion,  293. 
Canal  and  Railway  Cases,  State  of 

Pennsvlvania,  20. 
Canby.  E.  R.  S.,  242,  243. 
Cape  Cod,  324,  403. 
Caribbean  Sea,  68. 
Carlisle,  J.  M.,  74. 
Carlisle,  Ohio,  198,  396. 
Carpenter,  M.  H.,  326,  327,  405,  406, 

409. 
Carpenter's     "Six     i^Ionths     in     the 

White    House,"   250,   345,   385. 


Carroll  Prison,  294,  370. 

Carrollton,  40,  42. 

Cartter,  D.  K.,  280,  335,  409. 

Cass,  Lewis,  53,  54,  82,  83. 

Chalmers,  Jas.  R.,  235. 

Chambersburg,  198,  199. 

Chancellorsviile,  210. 

Chandler,  A.  B.,  217,  219,  222. 

Chandler,  Zachariah,  405,  409. 

Chapman,  G.  T.,  412. 

Charleston,    68,    82,    83,    84,    80,    91, 

92,   93,   99,   102,   238,  275. 
Chase,  Philander,  27,  28. 
Chase,    Salmon    P.,    116,    119,    123, 

127,    141,    154,    155,    169,    172,    177, 

179,    182,    185,    194,    203,    211,    281, 

340,    343,    353,    359,    361,    308,    393, 

405,    424. 
Chattahoochie  Bridge,  227. 
Chattanooga,  21,  203,  204,  205,  227, 

232,  389. 
Chesapeake  Bay,  154,  158,  426. 
Chicago,  79,  143,  187,  210,  254,  412. 
Chickamauga,  203,  207,  348,  381. 
Chronicle,  The,  341. 
Church, 

Catholic,  51. 

Episcopal,  66,  103,  373. 

Methodist,  67,  372,  373. 

Of  the  Disciples,  375. 
Cincinnati,   43,   51,   62,   79,   102,   163, 

196,  252,  371,  399,  416. 
Circle  of  Hosts,  249,  250. 

City   Point,   231,   257,   258,   201,   262. 

City  Solicitor,  46. 

Civil  Rights  Bill,  307. 

Clarke,  R.  W.,  337. 

Clay,  C.  C,  360. 

Clemson,    Mrs.,   24. 

Cleveland,  48,  60,  79,  147,  206,  21S, 

267,    309,    310,    350,    384,    395,    400, 

402,  421. 
Clingman,  T.  L.,  83. 
Cobb,  Howell,  260. 
Cochrane,  John,  115,  392. 
Colburn,  A.  V.,  193. 
Cole,  Chas.  D.,  144. 
Cole,   Nathan,  144. 
Colfax,  Schuyler,  336,  405,  406,  400. 
Collier,  D.   L.,  27,  28,  30,  31. 
Colorado,  315. 
Columbus,  Nebraska,  34. 
Columbus,   Ohio,  30,   31,  32,   33,   37, 

38,  50,  251,  253,  359,  385. 
Cameron,  Simon,  114,  115,  116,  117, 

119,    122,    123,    127,    129,    135,    136, 

197,  201,    216,    341,   400. 
Commander-in-Chief,     (General-in- 
Chief,  etc.) 

Grant,  U.  S..  342,  386. 

Halleck,  H.  W.,  173,  180,  194,  201. 

220. 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  138,  171,  270. 


McClellan,    G.    B.,    124,    126,    195. 
Stanton,  L.  M.,  140,  141. 
Commissioners     for    the    Relief    of 

Prisoners,   229. 
Commissioners    Peace,  257,  258. 
Commissioners,    Pa.    Railway    and 

Canal,  60. 
Commissioners,    Secession,    85,    86, 

87,  88,  91,  93,  94. 
Committee 
Dawes,  89. 
House       Committee      on       Post 

Roads,  58. 
Impeachment,  385. 
On    Conduct    of    the    War,    119, 
136,  137,  147,  225,  236,  238,  345, 
358,  387, 
On  Loyalty  of  Federal  Employ- 
ees, 119. 
On  Military  Affairs,  103. 
On  Platform,  37,  38. 
On  Reconstruction,  340. 
Union,   110. 

Comstock,  C.  B.,  220. 

Confederacy,  Confederate  States, 
Confederates,  68,  101,  102,  107, 
109,  110,  112,  118,  121,  139,  143, 
146,  148,  152,  163,  166,  172,  175, 
179,  192,  203,  207,  217,  219,  225, 
229,  230,  231,  232,  233,  234,  237, 
238,  239,  250,  253,  254,  255,  258, 
264,  266,  267,  269,  270,  272,  276, 
278,  279,  281,  291,  305,  313,  359, 
360,  363,  365,  366,  368,  370,  376, 
386,    388,    418. 

Confiscation  Act,  20,  184,  190. 

Confiscation    Proclamation,   184. 

Congress,  19,  21,  38,  57,  58,  59,  63, 
64,  67,  73,  82,  89.  91,  92,  100,  101, 
102,  103,  105,  106,  110,  119,  120, 
128,  129,  134,  136,  137,  163,  168, 
181,  183,  185,  187,  189,  197,  230, 
236,  238,  242,  247,  253,  258,  259, 
264,  271,  286,  291,  294,  299,  301, 
303,  304,  306,  307,  308,  309,  310, 
311,  312,  313,  315,  316,  317,  318, 
319,  320,  321,  322,  323,  326,  327, 
328,  329,  332,  334,  336,  337,  338, 
339,  340,  343,  344,  348,  354,  305, 
367,    386,    396,    409,    412,    423,    420. 

Congress,  Confederate,  219,  232. 

Congress,  The,  152. 

Connecticut,  286,  341. 

Constitution,  Washington,  103. 

Convention, 

Baltimore,    Presidential,    36,    346, 

391. 
Cleveland,   309. 

New  York  Democratic,  394,  395. 
Ohio  Democratic,  36,  37. 
Philadelphia,    309,    394. 
Pittsburg,   394. 
Secession,  101. 


Soldiers   and   Sailors,   309,  394. 
Cooke,  Jay,  288. 
Cooke,  P.  St.  George,  254. 
Cooper,  Edmund,  342. 
Cooper  Institute,  398. 
Cooper   Union,   66. 
Copeland,  W.   B,.  85. 
Corbett,   Boston,  286. 
Corcoran  Institute  of  Art,  61. 
Corey,   J.    B.,   362,   363. 
Corinth,  163,  167. 
Corning,  Erastus,  224. 
Cotuit,  324,  403. 
Couch,  D.  N.,  198,  200,  202. 
Court, 

Canadian,  254. 

Federal,  79,  242,  243,  250,  253,  264, 
311,  319. 

Of  Appeals,  N.  Y.,  242. 

Of  Claims,  250. 

Of  District  of  Columbia,  287. 

Penn.  State  Supreme,  61,  243. 

State,    240,    319. 

United  States  Circuit,  82. 

United   States  District,  62. 

United  States  Supreme,  55,  57, 
59,  63,  64,  67,  68,  69,  71,  80,  105, 
106,  112,  252,  264,  269,  271,  326, 
368,  376,  386,  405,  407,  409,  412, 
426. 

Wisconsin  Supreme,  240,  241. 
Cowan,  Edgar,  303,  320. 
Cox,  Gen.,  323. 
Cox,  S.  S.,  143. 

Coyle,  J.  P.,  126,  216,  277,  278,  342. 
Craney  Island,  153. 
Crawford,  Judge,  44,  74. 
Crawford,    M.    J.,    102. 
Creswell,  J.  A.  J.,  409. 
Crittenden,  J.  J.,  105. 
Culpepper,  Va.,  23,  193. 
Cumberland,  Army  of,  21,  203,  204, 

207,    226,    349. 
Cumberland,  The,  152. 
Cummings,  Dr.  Thos.,  47. 
Cummins,  Gen.,  354,  355. 
Curtin,  A.  G.,  198,  217,  243,  361,  365, 

391. 
Curtis,  Gen.,  371. 
Curtis,  Geo.  Ticknor,  105. 
Curtis,  Justice  B.  R.,  57,  340. 
Gushing,  Caleb,  83,  368. 
Custer,  Geo.  A.,  133. 
Cutting,  F.  B.,  150,  215, 


Dakotah,  The,  155. 

Dana,  C.  A.,  125,  129,  130,  188,  203, 
205,  249,  256,  263,  269,  270,  280, 
293,  310,  312,  351,  352,  358,  360, 
393,    394,    404. 

Dana,   Gen.,   199. 

Daniel,  Justice,  57. 


Danville,  111.,  243. 

Davis,  Commander  (Captain),  163, 

164. 
Davis,  Henry  Winter,  96. 
Davis,  Jefferson,  21,  83,  86,  97,  101, 
102,    103,    107,    109,    138,    182,    192, 
195,    197,    213,    219,    230,    231,   242, 
257,    258,    260,   263,   264,    267,   276, 
277,    278,    285,    286,    302,    355,    360, 
361,    366,    386. 
Davis,  Mrs.  Jefferson,  103. 
Dawes,  H.   L.,  83,  89,  283,  368,  369. 
Dawson,  N.  E.,  390. 

Dealy,  W.  J.,  221. 

Death  of 

Stanton,  Darwin  E.,  45,  423. 
Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  408. 
Stanton,  Jas.  H.,  170. 
Stanton,  Lucy  L.,  38. 
Stanton,  Mary  A.,  39,  423. 

Defense,  Buchanan's,  108. 

Delano,  Columbus,  337. 

Delaware,  48,  197,  222. 

Democratic  (party,  ticket,  conven- 
tion, person,  platform),  33,  34, 
37,  38,  39,  44,  53,  54,  67,  80,  89, 
101,  102,  105,  111,  112,  135,  168, 
196,  197,  238,  243,  250,  306,  323, 
367,   391,   392,   394,   400. 

Dennison,  Wm.,  282. 

Dennison,  Mrs.  Anne  E.,  33. 

Deserters,  Number  of,  247. 

Des  Moines,  250. 

Dewey,  Chauncey,  32,  36. 

Dickerson,  E.  N.,  62. 

Dillon,  Moses,  252. 

Dimmock,  A.  G.,  417. 

Disciples,  Church  of  the,  375. 

Dispatch,  Richmond,  323. 

District  of  Columbia,  27,  35,  44, 
73,  74,  118,  164,  179,  188,  207,  251, 
280,  286,  287,  315,  361,  409. 

Diurnal,  The,  349. 

Dix,  Hon.  John  A.,  101,  111,  112, 
115,  132,  212,  213,  214,  231,  242, 
243,    273,    285,    295,    355,    382. 

Dixon,  Jas.,  341. 

Dodge,  G.  M.,  338. 

Donelson,  Fort,  129,  131,  215,  230. 

Doolittle,  J.  R.,  343,  354. 

Doren,  Dennis,  222. 

Douglas,  Dr.,  390. 

Douglas,  Mrs.  S.  A.,  287. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  80,  364. 

Douglass,  Miss,  28. 

Draft  Riots,  in  the  North,  240,  241, 
242. 

Draper,  J.  W.,  399,  400. 

Drum,  R.   C,  196. 

Drummond,  Thos.,  63,  79. 

Dry  Tortugas,  287. 


Duerson,   Mrs.   J.    C,   23,   27. 
Dunn,  W.   L.,  331. 
Dyer,  Heman,  28,  157,  194,  211,  371, 
372. 


Early,  J.   A.,  388. 

Eckert,    T.    T.,    166,    167,    168,    204, 

207,    217,    218,    222,    257,    258,    262, 

265,    286,    294,    367,    409. 
Eckley,  E.  R.,  42. 
Edinburg  Quarterly  Rcviczi',  368. 
Edmunds,  G.  F.,  334,  343,  409. 
Eells,  H.  P.,  402. 
Eldredge,  C.  A.,  356. 
Ellet,  Alfred,  163,   164. 
Ellet,  Chas.,  162,  163,  164,  165. 
Ellet,  Chas.  R.,  165. 
Elliot,  Ann,  39. 
Elliott,  Gen.,  240. 
Elizabeth    River,   153. 
Emancipation      Proclamation,      20, 

26,  68,  182,  185,  187,  188,  189,  193, 

231,  359,  396. 
Emerick,  J.  H.,  222. 
Emerson,  R.,  62,  63. 
Emory,  W.  H.,  331. 
England,  118,  121,  122,  123,  124,  192, 

213,    229,    236,    237,    238,    254,    293, 

369,  370,  386,  412,  415. 
Epiphany,  Church  of  the,  103,  375, 

408. 
Episcopal  Church,  28,  30. 
Erie  and  Northeast  Railroad,  60. 
Erie  Railroad  War,  60,  61. 
Europe,  114,  127,  219,  223,  236,  240, 

254,    288,    291. 
Evarts,  W.  M.,  340. 
Everett,  Edward,  80. 
Ewing,  Gen.,  323. 


Fairchild,  Lucius,  384. 

Fairfax    Court  House,  146,  199. 

Fairmont  Bridge,  162. 

Farmers'     and     Mechanics'     Bank, 

32. 
Farragut,  Admiral  David,  310,  363. 
Felton,    S.    M.,    200,    204,    205,    224. 
Ferry,  O.   S.,  337. 
Fessenden,   Wm.    P.,   238,   338,   341, 

400. 
Filson,  Davison,  349,  414. 
Filson,  Mrs.  Davison,  40,  49,  417. 
Filson,  Samuel,  45. 
Finney,  W.  G.,  35. 
Fish,  Hamilton,  229. 
Fisher,  Fort,  214. 

Florida,  97,  183,   184,  287,  297,  316, 
Floyd,   John    B.,    84,    86,    88,   94,   95. 
Fontaine,  Felix  G.,  74. 
Forbes,  Capt.,  233. 
Ford's  Theatre,  221,  278,  281. 


Forney,  J.  W.,  330,  417,  422. 
Forrest,  Edwin,  417. 
Forrest,  Gen.  N.  B.,  235. 
Forsythe,  J.  W.,  33. 
Fort 

Calhoun,  382. 

Donelson,   129,   131,  215,   230. 

Fisher,  214. 

Henry,  129,  208. 

Lafayette,   136,   137,   212. 

Montgomery,  254. 

Moultrie,  85,  86,  87,  93,  94,  95,  105. 

Pickens,    99,    100,    105,    108,    112, 

Pillow,  164,  235,  236. 

Sumter,  68,  85,  87,  91,  92,  93,  95, 
105,  107,  108,  112,  216,  274,  275, 
278,  280,  316. 

Warren,  121,  252. 

Wool,  155,  382. 
Fortress  Monroe,  99,  146,  147,  148, 

149,    153,    154,    156,    158,    166,    172, 

181,    222,    258,    262,    360,    364,    372. 
Forty-six  Years  in  the  Army,  362, 

377. 
Foster,  Gen.,  237. 
Fowler,  J.   S.,   341,   343. 
Fox,  G.  v.,  107,  153. 
France,  109,  118,  121,  124,  129,  150, 

192,   229,   386. 
Frankfort  Railroad,  206. 
Franklin,  W.  B.,  138,  149,  159,  176, 

394. 
Franklin   Square,  79,  107. 
Eraser's  River,  71. 
Fredericksburg,  224,  225. 
Free-Soil,  53. 
Freedman's  Bank,  297. 
Freedman's    Bureau,   188,   306,    307, 

313. 
Freedman's    Inquiry    Commission, 

188 
Fremont,   J.    C,   129,   182,   362,   392. 
Fry,  J.  B.,  134,  393. 
Fulton,  J.  D.,  288. 


Gaddis,  John,  37. 

Gaines'  Case,  368. 

Gaines'  Mill,  166. 

Galena,  The,  154. 

Gallagher,  Jas.,  24,  25. 

Galveston,  84. 

Gambier,  27,  28,  251. 

Gano,  A.  G.,  42. 

Garfield,  J.  A.,  203,  207,  288. 

Garrett,  J.  W.,  200,  204,  205,  281, 
356. 

Gay,  of  N.  Y.  Tribune,  211. 

"Gen.  Butler  in  New  Orleans,"  152. 

General-in-Chief  (see  Commander- 
in-Chief). 

Georgetown,  164,  179. 


Georgia,  96,  101,  183,  184,  297,  316, 
326,  360,  405. 

Gettysburg,  142,  198,  199,  201.  202. 
210,  232,   291,  365.   371,   380,  395. 

Gibbon,  John,  378. 

Gilmore,  Gen.  Hugh  A.,  275. 

Gist,   W.   H.,  82,   83. 

Globe,  The,  253. 

God,  22,  52,  59,  75,  76,  77,  86,  98, 
110,  130,  136,  160,  170,  177.  ISS, 
192,  207,  250,  262,  289,  371,  374, 
378,  381,  383,  395,  397,  398,  417, 
419. 

Godwin,    Park,   392. 

Goering,  Mr.,  353. 

Golden  Circle,  Knights  of,  192.  249, 
250,   252,  253. 

Goldsborough,  Commander,  154, 
156. 

Grand  Review,  The,  268,  288,  289. 

"Grant  in  Peace,"  380. 

Grant,  Mrs.  U.  S.,  379. 

Grant,  U.  S..  21,  130,  131,  180,  182, 
188,  195,  196,  200,  207,  210,  219, 
220,  221,  230,  232,  237,  238,  247, 
257,  259,  261,  265,  266,  267,  268. 
273,  274,  277,  278,  279,  281,  282. 
284,  288,  301,  305,  306,  307,  308, 
310,  311,  313.  320.  321,  322,  323, 
324,  325,  328.  330,  331,  332,  333, 
334,  337,  339,  342,  343,  346,  355, 
357,  358,  359,  362,  364,  365,  368, 
371,  376,  377,  378,  379,  380,  383, 
384,  385,  386,  387,  388,  389,  390, 
391.  393,  394,  395,  398,  401,  405, 
406,    407,    408     409.    421,    426. 

Great  Britain  (see  England). 

"Great  Speeches  bj-  Great  Law- 
yers." 74. 

Greeley,  Horace,  150,  211.  215.  241, 
361,  392. 

Greenhow.  Mrs..  370. 

Grier,  R.  C,  55,  C5.  404.  405,  406, 
409. 

Griffith,  Joe.  251. 

Grimes.  J.  W.,  341,  342. 

Gurley,  Rev.  Mr.,  283. 

Gwin,  W.   M.,   107. 


Hale,  J.  P..  106. 

Hall,   C.  W.,  372,  374. 

Hall,  Dr.  J.  C,  418. 

Halleck,  H.  W.,  163,  167,  173,  176, 

177,    178,    180,    181,    193,    199,    201, 

203,    204,    220,    267,    368,    371,    382, 

383,    401. 
Hamlin,  Hannibal,  80,  400. 
Hampton  Roads  Peace  Conference, 

21,  257. 
Hancock,  W.   S..  174.  287,  380,  381, 

391.  421. 
Hardie,  J.  A.,  200,  287,  294. 


Harding,  Geo.,  62,  96. 
Harper,  John,  24,  353. 
Harper,   Lecky,   53. 
Harper's  Ferry,  192,  353. 
Harrisburg,  198,  200,  217. 
Harris,  Mrs.  John,  371. 
Harris,   Miss,  281. 
Harris,  Rev.  Mr.,  275. 
Harrison,  W.  H.,  261. 
Harrison,  Benjamin,  288. 
Harrison,   R.   R  .S.,  412. 
Harrison,  H.   N.,  68,  72. 
Harrison  County,  32,  36,  42,  426. 
Harrison   National  Bank,  34. 
Harrold,  D.  C,  286. 
Hartranft,  J.   F.,  286. 
Hassler,  J.   J.    S.,   348,   349. 
Haxall's  Landing,  173,  231. 
Haupt,   Herman,   174,  194,  198,  199, 

201,    202,    209,    224,    225,    226,    227, 

295,  358. 
Hayes,  R.   B.,  28S. 
Hay,   John,    168. 
Heichold,  A.  P.,  118. 
Heintzelman,  Gen.,  138,  169. 
Hempfield  Railroad  Co.,  83. 
Hendricks,  T.  A.,  253,  344. 
Henderson,  J.  B.,  341,  344,  365. 
Herald,  N.  Y.,  109,  131.  197,  208,  209. 
Hesse,  John  C,  352,  353. 
Hewitt,  A.  S.,  152. 
Hibernia  No.  2,  55. 
Hill,  A.  S.,  211. 
Hill,  D.  H.,  148,  231. 
Hilton  Head.  N.  C,  167. 
"History  of  the  Rebellion," 

Draper's,  399. 
Hitchcock,  E.  A.,  149.  159,  161,  233, 

234,   260. 
Hoagland,  Miss  Margaret,  24. 
Holiday's    Cove,   W.   Va.,   45,   50. 
Holt,    Joseph,    84,    88,    90,    93,    94, 

95.   97,   98,   99,    100,    106,    109,   116, 

117,  275,  280,  286,  287. 
Hooker,  Joseph,  199,  200,  205,  206, 

209. 
Hooper,  Samuel.  324,  403,  409. 
Hoosac  Tunnel,  224,  227. 
Hosts,   Circle   of,   249,   250. 
House  of  Delegates  (Virginia),  37. 
House    of    Representatives,    U.    S., 

44,  45,  132,  190,  33.3,  336,  340,  343, 

405,  408. 
Houston,  Sam.  SO. 
Howard.  Joseph.  212,  213. 
Howard,  Miss  Anna,  30. 
Howard,  Maj.  Gen.  O.  O.,  288,  313, 

346. 
Howe,   S.   G.,   188. 
Howe,  T.  O.,  144,  241. 
Huger,  Benjamin.  230. 
Hughes.  John.  371,  372. 
Hunt,  Robert  T.,  54,  84,  412. 


Hunter,    David,    167,    183,    184,    183, 

186,    380,    384. 
Hunter,  R.  M.  T.,  85,  86,  100,  102, 

257,  402. 
Hunter,  Robert  F.,  207,  350,  358. 
Hussey,  Obed,  79. 
Hutchison,  Lewis,  66. 
Hutchison,  Ellen,  66. 
Huys,  Drouyn  de  1',  192. 


Illinois,   43,   58,    196,   243,   254,    341, 

356,  369. 
Impeachment,  89,  334,  335,  340,  341, 

342,    343,    344,    385, 
Independent,  N.  Y.,  392. 
Indiana,    43,    46,    58,    188,    241,    246, 

252,  344,  356,  369. 
Indianapolis,  207,  246,  250,  251. 
Inglebright,  William,  45. 
Inquirer,   Richmond,  323. 
International  Hotel,  72. 
Iowa,   341,   342,   356. 
Irwin,  W.  H.,  309. 
Isaac  Newton,  The,  56, 
Island   No.   10,   162,   371. 
Iverson,  Alfred,  101. 
Ives,  Dr.  M.,  197,  208,  209. 


Jackson,  T.  J.  (Stonewall),  167, 

Jamaica,  68. 

James  River,  20,  146,  152,  154, 
156,    165,    389. 

Jamestown,  The,  155. 

Jefiferson    County,    32,    36,    39. 

Jcflfersonv.lle,  206. 

Jenks  &  Son,  200. 

Jewett,  T.  L.,  224. 

Johnson,  A.  E.  H.,  64,  89,  125, 
167,  169,  170,  177,  179,  189, 
196,  204,  212,  217,  218,  221, 
255,  258,  265,  271,  289,  295, 
313,  315,  323,  324,  331,  336, 
351,  354,  357,  364,  371,  384, 
388,  409,  417,  418. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  19,  21,  143, 
238,  264,  265,  267,  277,  278, 
281,  282,  283,  285,  286,  287, 
296,  298,  299,  300,  302,  304, 
306,  307,  308,  309,  310,  312, 
315,  316,  319,  320,  321,  322, 
326,  328,  329,  330,  331,  332, 
334,  335,  340,  341,  342,  358, 
361,    367,    373,    394,    400,    424, 

Johnson,  Reverdy,  57,  58,  62, 
303,   320,   344. 

Johnson,  Richard  M.,  80. 

Johnson's   Island,   254. 

Johnston,  Jos.  E.,  21,  263,  266, 
268,  270,  288,  301,  395. 

Johnston,  "V^^m.,  4-16. 

Johnston,  Wm.  Preston,  418. 


181. 
155, 


142, 
191, 
249, 
306, 
350, 
387, 

221, 
279, 
289, 
305, 
313, 
323, 
333, 
360, 
426. 
210, 


267, 


Jones,    David,   408. 

Journal  of  Commerce,  212,  213. 

Judd,  N.  B.,  409. 

Julian,  Geo.  W.,  185,  369. 


Kansas,  243,   341,   344. 

Kees,  J.    D.,   210. 

Kelly,  J.  H.,  202. 

Kelley,  W.   D.,  337. 

Kelton,  J.  C,  178. 

Kenawha  County,  402. 

Kennedy,  Chief,  281. 

Kennon,  Judge,  34,  35. 

Kentucky,  43,  58,  105,  120,  197,  344. 

Kenyon    College,    27,    28,    157,    349, 

367,  374. 
Key,  Major  T.  M.,  260. 
Key,  Phillip  Barton,  73,  74,  77. 
Keyes,  Gen.  E.  D.,  138,  169. 
Kettles,  W.  E.,  261,  263. 
Kilpatrick,  Judson,  133. 
Kimlen,  Mr.,  130. 
Kingston,  Jamaica,  68. 
Kirkwood  House,  285. 
Kneedler  vs.  Lane,  243. 
Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  192, 

249,  252,  253. 
Knox,  John,  45. 
KuKlux  Klans,  312. 


Lacey's  Hotel,  34. 

Lafayette,  Fort,  136,  137,  212. 

Lake  Champlain,  254. 

Lake  Erie,  254. 

Lake  Superior,  254,  325. 

Lamon,  W.  H.,  112. 

Lamson,  Mary  A.,  30,  32,  33,  39, 
40,  252. 

Lamson,  Wm.  K.,  32. 

Lander,  T.  W.,  382. 

Land  Cases,  California,  66,  67,  72, 
80,  426. 

Lane,  Jos.,  80. 

Lane,  Kneedler  vs.,  243. 

Larrabee,  C.  F.,  244. 

Latham,  M.  S.,  131. 

Lawrence,  Wm.,  338. 

Lee,  R.  E.,  109,  142,  147,  148,  158, 
167,  169,  172,  174,  175,  176,  178, 
179,  191,  192,  193,  198,  199,  200, 
201,  202,  234,  252,  259,  263,  266, 
267,  273,  274,  277,  278,  282,  289, 
301,  311,  357,  371,  379,  388,  395, 
397,    423. 

Lee,  W.  H.  F.,  232. 

Letcher,  Jno.,  302. 

Letters  from 

Barlow,  S.  L.  M.,  122. 
Black,  J.  S.,  70. 
Buchanan,  Jas.,  102. 
Carpenter,  M.  H.,  326. 


Chase,  S.  P.,  156. 

Collier,  D.  L.,  28,  31. 

Dana,  C.  A.,  129. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  267. 

Dix,  Jno.  A.,  243. 

Floyd,  J.  B.,  86. 

Grant,  U.  S.,  210,  322,  339,  387. 

Greeley,  Godwin  and  Tilton,  392. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  320,  332. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  149. 

McClellan,   G.    B.,    122,    161,    167, 
170,  171,  180,  181,  193,  197. 

Ould,  Robert,  233,  237, 

Patton,  Ben.,  56. 

Pleasanton,  Alfred,  173. 

Sherman,  John,  267,  268. 

Sherman,    W.    T.,    266,    267,    270, 
332. 

Simpson,  Matthew,  372. 

Stanton,  E.  M.,  85,  90,  94,  98,  105, 
106,  107,  108,  109,  110,  111,  115, 
122,  123,  125,  129,  130,  131,  132, 
135,  140,  153,  157,  158,  159,  160, 
161,  162,  169,  170,  183,  194,  209, 
210,  242,  308,  309,  310,  311,  312, 
313,  314,  321,  325,  328,  329,  330, 
334,  341,  343,  353,  356,  357,  366, 
373,  374,  380,  381,  382,  387,  392, 
393,  399,  400,  401,  403,  404,  407. 
Letters  to 

Ashley,  J.   M.,  310,  311,  312,  403. 

Aspinwall,  W.  H.,  180. 

Barlow,  S.  L.  M.,  122,  123. 

Brady,  J.  T.,  242. 

Buchanan,  Jas.,  86,  105,  106,   107, 
108,  109,  131,  132. 

Cameron,  Simon,  341. 

Carpenter,  Mrs.  M.  H.,  326. 

Chase,  S.  P.,  393. 

Copeland,  W.  B.,  85. 

Dana.  C.  A.,  125,  129,  130. 

Dix,  Jno.  A.,  110,  111,  115,  382. 

Draper,  J.  W.,  399. 

Dyer,   Heman,  157,   158,  159,  160, 
161,  194,  195. 

Edmunds.    G.    P.,   334. 

Ellet,  Chas.,  162. 

Grant,  U.  S.,  308,  332,  407. 

Greeley,  Horace,  156. 

Hancock,  W.  S.,  380,  381. 

Harper,  John,  353. 

Hooker,  Jos.,  209. 

Hunter,  R.  M.  T.,  102. 

Johnson,   Andrew,    300,   321,   322, 
343. 

Johnston,  Jos.  E.,  266,  270. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  135,  387. 

Marcy,  R.  B.,  173. 

McClellan,  G.  B.,  140,  149. 
McClellan,   Mrs.   G.   B.,   122,   161, 
167,  170,  171,  180,  181,  193,  197. 
Mitchell,   O.   M.,   183. 
Moorhead,  J.  K.,  309. 


Patton,  Benj.,  56. 
Pierrepont,  Edwards,  215. 
Robinson,  Wm.,  90. 
Saxton,  Rufus,  380. 
Senate,  United  States,  329. 
Seward,  W.  H.,  135. 
Schell,  Augustus,  94. 
Schenck,  R.  C,  366,  381. 
Simpson,  Matthew,  374. 
Simpson,  Mrs.  M.,  372. 
Sheridan,  P.  H.,  339,  373. 
Smith,  J.  Gregory,  356,  387,  392. 
Smith,    Mrs.    J.    Gregory,    325. 
Stanton,   E.   M.,   28,   31,   122,   170, 

237,  243,  267,  268,  320,  378. 
State  Governors,  392. 
Thomas,  G.  H.,  381. 
Tod,  Governor,  135. 
Tribune,  N.  Y.,  129. 
Vanderbilt,   Cornelius,  153. 
Vincent,  T.  M.,  381. 
Watson,    P.    H.,    68,    69,    70,    313, 
314,  399,  400,  401,  403. 

Libby  Prison,  233. 

Liberty,  Sons  of,  249,  254. 

Lieber,  Francis,  313. 

"Life  of  Buchanan,"  105. 

Limantour,  Jose  y,  67,  71,  72. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  19,  20,  21,  26, 
60,  62,  63,  80,  82,  83,  97,  102, 
103,  104,  105,  106,  107,  108,  109, 
110,  111,  112,  113,  115,  116,  117, 
119,  123,  128,  136,  138,  139,  140, 
141,  142,  143,  145,  148,  149,  150, 
154.  156,  157,  166,  167,  168,  171, 
172,  176,  177,  178,  179,  180,  182, 
183,  184,  185,  186,  187,  188,  189, 
191,  192,  193,  194,  196,  198,  199, 
201,  203,  204,  212,  214,  215,  217, 
219,  221,  225,  230,  235,  236,  237, 
249,  252,  254,  255,  257,  258,  259, 
260,  261,  266,  269,  270,  271,  275, 
276,  277,  278,  279,  280,  281,  282, 
283,  284,  285,  286,  287,  289,  299, 
300,  301,  302,  311,  312,  316,  329, 
337,  338,  345,  346,  347,  348,  351, 
355,  356,  357,  359,  360,  361,  364, 
365,  367,  368,  369,  372,  374,  376, 
377,  379,  385,  386,  387,  388,  391, 
392,  393,  395,  396,  397,  401,  405, 
421,    423,    424,    426. 

"Lincoln  and  Seward,"  260. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.,  255,  281,  282. 

Littell's    "Living   Age,"    367. 

Logan,  Jno.  A.,  309. 

London  Observer,  94. 

London  Times,  209. 

Longden,  Samuel,  46. 

Longfellow's  "Psalm  of  Life,"  414. 

Longstreet,  Jas.,  193,  260. 

Longstreet,  Judge,  99. 

Loomis,  A.  W.,  90. 


Louisiana,  43,  97,  232,  296,  299,  312, 

316,  363. 
Louisville,  205,  206,  207,  372,  383. 
Louisville  &  Lexington  R.  R.,  206. 
Lovejoy,  Owen,  369. 
Loyal  Legions,  251. 
Ludlow,  Colonel,  232. 
Lundy,  Benj.,  25,  26. 
Lyman,  Dr.  Theodore,  66. 
Lynch,  S.  G.,  202,  218. 
Lyons,  Lord,  123. 
Lytton,  Bulwer,  368. 


Macaulay,  420. 

Macedonian,  The,  93. 

Madison,  Wis.,  241,  245,  384. 

Magruder,  J.  B.,  148,  150. 

Maine,  121,  238,  341,  400. 

Mallory,  S.  R.,  97,  100. 

Manassas,    139,    146,    149,    158,    206, 

386. 
Manny,  John   H.,  62,  63,  64,  65,  68. 
Manning,  Provost-Marshal,  263. 
Marcy,  R.  B.,  169,  170,  173. 
Marston,  Gilman,  147. 
Maryland,  73,  84,  96,  191,  192,  223, 

242,    255,    344,    367. 
Maryland  Heights,  193. 
Mason,  James  M.,  100,  101,  121,  122, 

124. 
Massachusetts,  31,  89,  135,  137,  219, 

241,  369,  403,  419. 
Massachusetts,    Military   Historical 

Society  of,  180. 
Maynadier,  Col.  Henry  E.,  84,  179. 
McCall,  Geo.  A.,  138,  166. 
McCardle,  Wm.,  324,  326,  327. 
McCarty,  Mrs.  E.  H.,  23. 
McCallum,  D.  C,  204,  205,  207,  223, 

227,  295. 
McClellan,    Geo.    B.,   109,    121,    122, 
123,    124,    125,    126,    130,    131,    136, 
138,    139,    140,    141,    146,    147,    148, 
149,    150,    151,    152,    156,    157,    158, 
159,    160,    166,    167,    169,    J70,    171, 
172,    173,    174,    175,    176,    177,    178, 
179,    180,    185,    191,    192,    193,    194, 
195,    196,    197,    209,    216,    224,    232, 
237,    242,    243,    250,    260,    323,    355, 
365,    371,    391,    392,    393,    394,    423. 
McClellan,  Minute  Guards,  250. 
McClellan,  Mrs.  Geo.   B.,  180. 
McClellan's  "Own  Story,"  123,  148, 
149,    150,    168,    174,    178,    180,    195, 
196. 
McCook,  Geo.  W.,  42,  44,  46,  48,  50. 
McCormick,    Cyrus    H.,    62,    63,   64, 

65,    68,   79,    114. 
McCracken.  John,  31,  43,  410. 
McCrary,  Thos.,  33. 
McCreary,  T.  C,  344. 
McCulloch,  Ben,  97,  107. 


McCulloch,  Hugh,  282. 
McDowell,  Irwin,  138,  146,  150,  151, 

159,   160,  209,  224. 
McGowan,  David,  415. 
McGuire,  F.  B.,  418. 
McFadden,  H.  S.,  34. 
McKay,  Jas.,  188. 
McKinley,  Wm.,  288. 
McKinley,  Rectina,  47. 
McLean,  Justice  John,  63,  64,  79. 
McMasters,  David,  22. 
McNulty,  C.  J.,  44. 
Meade,   Geo.   G.,   21,   142,   199,  200, 
201,    202,    210,    260,    355,    357,    387, 
398. 
Meadville,  Pa.,  277. 
Mears,  Dr.  B.,  47. 
Meigs,  M.  C,  103,  159,  161,  179,  184. 
195,    200,    231,    265,    266,    269,    294, 
358,    374,    383. 
Mellon,  Thos.,  415. 
Melvin,  Thayer,  402. 
Memorandum,    for    the    President, 

88,  91,  93,  94. 
Memorandum,    McClellan    to    Lin- 
coln, 148,  197. 
Memorandum,    Lincoln    to    Camp- 
bell, 269. 
Memorandum,     Sherman-Johnston, 

263. 
Memorandum,     Stanton,    316,    317, 

318,  319. 
Memphis,  20,  163,  164,  165,  389. 
Meredith,  W.  M.,  326. 
Meredith,  Annie  C,  414. 
Meredith,  Geo.,  233. 
Merrimac,    The,    146,    152,    153,    154, 

155,    156,    160,    389,    426. 
Methodist    Episcopal    Church.    23, 

24,   372,   373. 
Metropolitan  M.  E.  Church,  67. 
Mexican  War,  44. 
Mexicans,  71,  72. 
Mexico.  67. 
Miami,  The,  154. 
Michigan,  360,  405,  406. 
Miles,  Nelson  A.,  360. 
Military  Commission,  252,  286. 
Military  District,  315,  316,  339. 
Military    Governors,    155,    279,    296, 

299,  300,  304,  358,  364. 
Military,      Historical      Society      of 

Massachusetts,  180. 
Military  Railways,  20,  198,  204,  223, 

226,  227,  295,  418. 
Military    Telegraph,    20,    216,    217, 

219,    222,    227,    244,    294,    388. 
Milligan,  L.  P.,  252. 
Milligan,  Mrs.  L.  P.,  252. 
Minnesota,  134,  344. 
Mississippi,  83,  86,  99,  182,  231,  316. 

326. 
Mississippi,  Department  of,  207. 


Mississippi    River,   20,   56,   97,    118, 

162,  165,  389. 
Missouri,  43,  58,  182,  341,  344,  365. 
Mitchell,  O.   M.,  143,  183,  382. 
Monroe,  Fortress,  99,  146,  147,  148, 

149,    153,    154,    156,    158,    166,    172, 

181,    222,    258,    262,    360,    364,    372. 
Monitor,  The,  154,  155. 
Monongahela  Lands,  324. 
Montgomery,  24,  97,  102. 
Montgomery,  Fort,  254. 
Montgomery,  J.  B.,  346,  347,  419. 
Montholon,  Marquis  de,  386. 
Moodey,  R.  S.,  48,  61,  291. 
Moore,  John,  42. 
Moore,  Mordecai,  43,  44. 
Moore,  W.  G.,  310,  322. 
Moorhead  City,  N.  C,  267. 
Moorhead,  J.  K.,  211,  309,  324,  337, 

348.  405. 
Morton,    O.    P.,    246,    250,    253,    362, 

405. 
Morgan,  E.  D.,  83,  245,  400. 
Morgan,  G.  W.,  382. 
Morrill,  J.  S..  400. 
Morse,  S.  F.  B.,  216. 
Morton,    Attorney-General,    61,    62. 
Mosby,  J.  S.,  421. 
Moultrie,    Fort,    85,    86,    87,   93,    94, 

95,  105. 
Mount  Wachusett,  403. 
Mudd,  S.  T..  286,  287. 
Mullen,  John,  50. 
Mussey,  R.  D.,  287. 

N 

Nashville,  205,  207,  220,  361. 

National  Intelligencer,  126,  216,  277. 

National  Metropolitan  Bank,  344. 

Nebraska,  34,  315. 

Negley,  J.  S.,  138. 

Nelson,  T.  A.  R.,  340. 

New  Albany,  162,  163. 

New  England  States,  250. 

New  Jersey,  194,  197,  243,  279,  397. 

New  Lisbon,  O.,  40,  42,  48. 

Newman,  J.  P.,  374. 

New  Orleans,  20,  144,  148,  152,  186, 
237,  254,  328,  342,  362,  363,  364, 
372,    373. 

New  Orleans  Riot,  297. 

Newport  News,  144,  156. 

NeU'S,  N.  Y.,  210,  253. 

New  York,  57,  66,  72,  73,  79,  87,  93, 
94,  97,  99,  110,  111,  115,  116,  120, 
129,  130,  135,  136,  150,  152,  157, 
166,  180,  188,  194,  198,  208,  211, 
213,  214,  219,  237,  241,  246,  253, 
256,  279,  281,  337,  342,  352,  371, 
372,  379,  382,  392,  393,  394,  395, 
398,    400,    403,    409,    411,    412,    419. 

New  York  and  Harlem  River  R. 
R.,   226. 


New  York  Court  of  Appeals,  242. 

New  York,  Draft  Riots  m,  241,  242. 

New  York  Herald,  109,  131,  197,  209. 

New  York  AcziJ,  210,  253. 

New  York  Post,  108,  392. 

New  York   fimes,  98,  209,  210,  241. 

New  York  Tribune,  98,  125,  129,  132, 

211,  215,  241,  392. 
New    York    World    and    Journal    of 

Commerce,  212. 
Nicolay,  J.  G.,  168. 
Norfolk,  20,  152,   153,  155,   156,  157, 

165,  219,  361,  389,  426. 
Norman,  Thos.,  27. 
North  Carolina,  25,  74,  83,  167,  210, 

222,    223,    265,    267,    296,    303,    370, 

420. 
North,  The,  96,  97,  98,  101,  103,  108, 

112,    114,    116,    118,    137,    192,    198, 

230,    233,    234,    235,    237,    238,    240, 

251,    254,    277,    297,    298,    300,    305, 

309,    313,   316,    338,    352,    357,    392, 

393. 
Norton,  D.  S.,  344. 


Oak  Hill  Cemetery,  410. 

O'Brien,  Col.,  242. 

O'Brien,  J.  E.,  220. 

O'Brien,  Richard,  217,  219,  222. 

Observer,  London,  94. 

Oelrichs  &  Company,  79. 

Ohio,  22,  23,  24,  25,  27,  28,  30,  33,  36, 

37,  39,  43,  44,  46,  48,  50,  54,  50,  58, 

73,  103,  131,  135,  147,  190,  207,  210, 

232,    241,    244,    251,    252,    276,    294, 

309,    313,    345,    356,    359,    361,    363, 

367,    385,    396,    399,    404,    414,    417, 

419,  421,  426. 
Ohio  Guage,  60. 
Ohio    River,    26,    33,    46,   54,    55,    56, 

58,  165,  204,  206,  276,  349. 
"Old  Mars,"  145. 
O'Laughlin,  M.,  286,  287. 
Old    Capitol    Prison,    133,    210,   233, 

253,  276,  294,  370. 
Old  Point  Comfort,  93,  146. 
Oliver,   John    F.,   24. 
Ord,  E.  O.   C,  260,  316,  326. 
Order  of  Stars  and  Stripes,  251. 
Orders  by 

Cameron,  Simon,  127. 

Dana,   C.    A.,   360. 

Grant,  U.  S.,  313. 

Halleck,  H.  W.,  178. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  302,  333,  334. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  140,  158,  178, 
194. 

Sherman,  W.  T.,  267,  298. 

Stanton,  E.  M.,  119,  127,  128,  133, 
134,  138,  167,  186,  188,  190,  208, 
212,  220,  226,  229,  231,  232,  233, 


234,  251,  269,  286,  289,  390,  333, 

353,   362,   371,   382. 
Oregon,  346,  419. 
O'Reiley,  Miles,  352. 
Orr,  Henry,  22. 
Orr,  Jas.  L.,  85,  87. 
Ould,  Robert,  73,  231,  232,  233,  234, 

237. 
Our  American   Cousin,  278. 
Owen,   R.   D.,   188. 
Owesney,  Valentine,  47. 


Pacific  Coast,  20,  67,  72. 

Pacific  Ocean,  68. 

Pale  Faces,  312. 

Panama,  Isthmus  of,  68,  72. 

Partnerships, 

Dewey  &  Stanton,  32. 

Shaler  &  Stanton,  42,  53,  54. 

Stanton  &  McCook.  42. 

Stanton  &  Eckley,  42. 

Stanton  &  Peppard,  42. 

Stanton  &  Peck,  42. 

Stanton  &  Sharon,  42. 

Tappan  &  Stanton,  42. 

Umbstaetter,  Stanton  &  Wallace, 
42,  54. 
Patrick,  M.  R.,  147. 
Patriot,  Baltimore,  96. 
Patterson,  D.  T.,  341,  344. 
Patton,  Ben.,  Co,  57. 
Payne,  Lewis,  278,  286. 
Payton,  Col.,  365. 
Peace  Conference,  Hampton 

Roads,  21,  257. 
Pea  Ridge,  371. 
Peck,   D.   S.,  42. 
Pelouze,  L.  H.,  283,  294. 
Pendleton,  Geo.  H.,  73,  131. 
Peninsular  Campaigns,  139. 
Pennsylvania,  43,  44,  46,  48,  54,  55, 

60,   61,   90,   105,   118,   127,   135,   191, 

198,  199,  220,  223,  241,  243,  277, 
341,  343,  348,  354,  361,  363,  372, 
391,    397,    404. 

Pennsylvania  Railroad   Co.,  25,  60, 

199,  217,  400. 

Pennsylvania  State,  Canal  and 
Railway  Cases,  20. 

Peppard,  S.  G.,  42. 

Perry,  Governor,  305. 

"Personal  Memoirs  of  U.  S.  Grant," 
376,  377,  380,  386,  387,  388,  389, 
390. 

Petersburg,  261,  291,  388. 

Petersen,  VVm.,  279,  280,  281. 

Peterson.  J.   H.,  363. 

Phelps,  J.  W.,  182. 

Philadelphia,  43,  62,  68,  96,  97.  109, 
187,  198,  200,  216,  217,  219,  281, 
309,  337,  342,  353,  354,  365,  371, 
374,    394,    396,    399,    409,    412,    421. 


Philadelphia    &    Reading    Railway, 

127. 
Philomathesian  Society,  27,  28. 
Phillips,  Jas.,   144. 
Pickens,  Gov.,  83,  84,  85,  99,  107. 
Pickens,  Fort,  99,  100,  105,  108,  112. 
Pierrepont,  F.   H.,  303. 
Pierrepont,  Edwards,  215,  409,  411. 
Pike,  Albert,  232. 
Pillow,  Gideon  J.,  395. 
Pillow,   Fort,   164,  235,  236. 
Pine  Bluff,  403. 
Pinckney,  Rev.  Mr.,  409. 
Pinkerton,  Allan,  251. 
Pittsburg,  24,  25,  42,  43,  46,  50,  51, 

53,  56,  62,  66,  70,  79,  80,  82,  84,  85, 

90,  162,  163,  165,  198,  211,  222,  309, 

314,    324,    337,    348,    349,    351,    353, 

362,    363,    394,    395,    399,    409,    412, 

413,    414,    415,    416,    426. 
Pittsburg,   Bank   of,   24. 
Pittsburg,   United   States   Bank   of, 

43. 
Pittsburg    Club,  70. 
Pittsburg  Landing,  371. 
Pittsburg  Post.  53. 
Plattsburg,  254. 
Pleasanton,  Alfred,  173. 
Polemics,  The,  24. 
Polk,  Jas.  K.,  42. 
Pope,  John,   148,  172,   173,  174,  175, 

176,    178,    179,    180,    181,    191,    225, 

316,  362,  371. 
Pork  Case,  43. 

Port  Hudson,  232,  238,  291,  401. 
Port  Royal,  298,  372. 
Porter,  Andrew,  138. 
Porter,  Fitz-John,  138,  169,  192. 
Porter,   Robert   L,  286. 
Portland,  Maine,  121. 
Portland,  Oregon,  346,  419. 
Portsmouth,  155,  156. 
Post,  Pittsburg,  53. 
Post,  New  York,  108,  392. 
Postal  Telegraph  Co.,  217. 
Postmaster  General, 

Blair,  Montgomery,  117,  119. 

Creswell,  J.  A.  J.,  409. 

Dennison,  Wm.,  302,  303,  329. 

Holt,  Joseph,   84. 

King,  Horatio,  99. 

Randall,  A.  W.,  307. 

Reagan,  J.  H.  (Confederate),  264. 
Potomac,  Army  of  the,  140,  142,  149, 

158,    171,    172,    176,    179,    193,    194, 

199,    203,    222,    227,    352,    357,    378, 

395. 
Potomac  Creek,  225. 
Potomac    River,   109,   118,   125,   140, 

146,    154,    157,    158,    173,    179,    201, 

202,    203,    222,    224.    267,    274,    278 

286,    357.    388,    410. 
Potter,  John  A.,  89. 


Potts,  John,  350. 
Powhattan,  The,  107. 
President,  The, 

Buchanan,  Jas.,  83,  84,  85,  86, 
87,  88,  89,  90,  91,  92,  93,  94,  96, 
99,  100,  101,  102. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  C.  S.  A.,  101, 
182 

Grant,  U.  S.,  377,  405,  406,  407. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  264,  268,  277, 
285,  287,  296,  301,  302,  305,  306, 
307,  308,  310,  312,  315,  317,  318, 
319,  321,  322,  323,  326,  328,  330, 
331,  332,  333,  334,  335,  336,  337, 
338,  339,  341,  342,  343,  358,  367, 
394. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  116,  117,  122, 
133,  134,  139,  140,  142,  146,  147, 
150,  155,  156,  158,  159,  160,  161, 
164,  166,  167,  171,  172,  176,  177, 
179,  185,  186,  188,  191,  193,  194, 
198,  203,  209,  213,  215,  218,  235, 
240,  245,  249,  252,  257,  258,  259, 
261,  262,  264,  269,  270,  271,  272, 
277,  280,  281,  285,  346,  347,  348, 
349,  351,  365,  366,  369,  372,  379, 
381,  382,  385,  397. 
Preston,   Gen.,  395. 
Preston,  Wm.,  30,  32,  33. 
Primrose  Hill,  79. 
Prison, 

Andersonville,  233. 

Belle  Isle,  233. 

Carroll,  294,  370. 

Old  Capitol,  133,  210,  233,  253, 
276,  294,  370. 

Salisbury,  233. 
Proclamation, 

By  Jefferson  Davis,  219,  230. 

Confiscation  (Stanton's),  184. 

Emancipation,  20,  68,  182,  185, 
187,  188,  189,  193,  231. 

Freeing  Slaves    (Fremont),  182. 

Freeing  Slaves  (Hunter's),  183, 
186. 

Of    Reward    for    Conspirators 
(Stanton's),  285. 

Spurious,  Lincoln,  212. 

Suspending  Habeas  Corpus,  134, 
287. 

That    Rebellion    Closed     (John- 
son's), 307. 
Provisional  Governors.  305,  306. 
"Psalm  of  Life,"  414. 
Purcell,  Archbishop,  51,  371. 
Railroad, 

Baltimore  and  Ohio,  281,  354,  356. 

Erie  War,  60,  61. 

Hempfield,  82. 

Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  South- 
ern, 60. 

New  York  and  Harlem,  226. 


Pennsylvania,  60,  400. 
Philadelphia  and  Columbia,  60. 
Philadelphia  and  Reading,  127. 


Railway,  Military,  20,  198,  204,  223, 

226,  227,  295,  418. 
Raleigh,  83,  265,  266. 
Ralston,  Wm.,  47. 
Randall,  A.  W.,  307,  310. 
Randolph,  G.  W.,  230. 
Rappahannock  River,  172. 
Rappahannock,  Department  of  the, 

225. 
Rappahannock  Bridge,  227. 
Rathbone,  Major,  H.  R.,  281. 
Rawlins,  J.  A.,  379. 
Raymond,  H.  J.,  98,  241. 
Reagan,  J.  H.,  264,  267. 
Rebellion  Records,  248. 
Rebellion,  The    (Civil  War),  19,  21, 

114,    121,    125,    128,    130,    135,    137, 

163,    168,    183,    188,    195,    197,    202, 

223,    224,    239,    242,    248,    261,    269, 

275,    276,    291,    292,    303,    307,    320, 

322,    337,    339,    344,    356,    357,    359, 

364,    370,    377,    379,    383,    386,    396, 

399,    418,    420,    422,    423,    425. 
Reconstruction,    21,    296,    301,    302, 

303,    307,    310,    311,    316,    317,    326, 

328,    329,    336,    337. 
Relief  Society,  Union,  249,  250. 
Remarks  by 

Allison,  W.  R.,  345. 

Anderson,  Lewis,  22. 

Andrews,  E.  F.,  61. 

Ashley,  J.   M.,  310. 

Associated  Press,  130. 

Barlow,  S.   L.   M.,  121. 

Barnard,  J.  C,  139. 

Barnwell,   R.   W..  87. 

Batcheler,  C.  W.,  55. 

Bates,  D.  Homer,  419. 

Black,  J.  S.,  359. 

Booth,  John  Wilkes,  277,  278. 

Boyce,  W.  M.,  103. 

Bronson,   S.    A.,   28. 

Brown,  Wm.,  45. 

Buchanan,  Jas.,  90,  102. 

Buchanan,  Jos.,  23,  39,  416. 

Buchanan,  Wm.   Stanton,  39,  79, 
144,  402,  420. 

Burgoyne,  W.  R.,  276. 

Butler,  B.  F.,  89,  152,  186,  234. 

Cabell,  Mrs.  M.  V.  E.,  164. 

Campbell,  John  A.,  107,  269. 

Carpenter,  Artist,  259,  345,  385. 

Carpenter,  M.  H.,  405,  406. 

Chandler,  A.   B.,  217. 

Chase,  S.  P.,  141,  172,  185,  203. 

Clarke,  R.  W.,  337. 

Clemson,  Mrs.   Margaret,  24. 

Colburn,  A.  V.,  193. 


Cole,  Chas.  D.,  144. 

Colfax,  Schuyler,  336. 

Corey,  J.  B.,  363. 

Coyle,  J.  F.,  126,  216,  277,  341, 
342. 

Cushing,  Caleb,  368. 

Dana,  C.  A.,  188,  270,  280,  310, 
352,    383,    393,    394,    404. 

Davis,  Jefiferson,  103,  267. 

Davis,  Mrs.  Jefferson,  103. 

Dawes,  H.  L.,  83,  283,  369. 

Dawson.  N.   E.,  390. 

Delano,  C,  337. 

Dennison,  Mrs.  A.  E.,  33. 

Dillon,  Moses,  252. 

Dimmock,  A.  G.,  417. 

Dodge,  G.  M.,  338. 

Doolittle,  J.  R.,  354. 

Duerson,  Mrs.  J.  C,  23,  27. 

Dyer,  Heman,  28. 

Eckert,    T.    T.,    258. 

Ellet,   Chas.,  162,  164. 

Elliott,  Ann,  39. 

Emerson,  Ralph,  62. 

Fairchild,  Lucius,  384. 

Ferry,  O.  S.,  337. 

Filson,  Davison,  349,  414. 

Filson,  Mrs.  Davison,  40,  49,  417. 

Finney,  W.  G.,  35. 

Floyd,  J.  B.,  84. 

Forney,  J.  W.,  422. 

Franklin,  W.  B.,  149. 

Fulton,  J.  D.,  288. 

Gallagher,  Jas.,  24. 

Grant,  U.  S.,  180,  196,  238,  260, 
322,  357,  376,  387,  390,  393,  406. 

Halleck,  H.  W.,  203. 

Hall,  C.  W.,  374. 

Harper,  John,  24,  353. 

Harper,  Leckey,  54. 

Haupt,  Herman,  194,  199,  201, 
209,  224,  226. 

Heichold,  A.  P.,  118. 

Hesse,  J.  C,  352. 

Hill,  D.  H.,  148. 

Hitchcock,  E.  A.,  233. 

Hoagland,  Miss  Margaret,  24. 

Holt,  Jos.,  88,  90,  275. 

Howard,  O.  O.,  346. 

Hunt,  R.  T.,  54,  84,  412. 

Hunter,  David,  384. 

Hunter,  R.  F.,  207,  350,  358. 

Ives,  Dr.  M.,  197. 

Iverson,  Senator  A.,  101. 

Johnson,  A.  E.  H.,  64.  125,  142, 
167,  169,  177,  179,  189,  191,  196, 
204,  212,  217,  218,  221,  249,  255, 
268,  265,  271,  289,  306,  313,  323, 
324,  331,  350,  354,  357,  364,  371, 
384,  388,  417. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  312,  334,  367. 

Johnston,  Wm.,  416. 

Johnston,  Wm.  Preston,  418. 


Julian,  G.  W.,  369. 

Kelley,  W.  D.,  337. 

Kettles,  W.  E.,  262,  263. 

Lawrence,  Wm.,  338. 

Lincoln,    Abraham,    63,    128,    136, 

138,  139,  141,  143,  179,  180,  183, 

187,  194,  201,  203,  225,  236,  259, 

269,  271,  311,  345,  346,  347,  348, 

365,  369,  397,  398,  405. 
Lincoln,  Mrs.  Abraham,  282. 
Longden,  46. 
Lovejoy,  Owen,  369. 
Lynch,  S.  G.,  202. 
Lytton,  Bulwer,  368. 
McCallum,  D.  C,  204. 
McCarty,  Mrs.  E.  H..  23. 
McClellan,    G.    B.,    121,    123,    124, 

131,  136,  148,  150,  151,  178,  185, 

191,  193,  195,  196,  197. 
McCracken,  John,    31,  43,  410. 
McCrary,  Thos.,  33. 
McFadden,  H.  S.,  34. 
McGowan,  David,  415. 
McGruder,  J.  D.,  149. 
McLean,  Justice,  64. 
Meade,  G.  G.,  201. 
Meigs,   M.    C,   103,   195,   221,   265, 

383 
Mellon,  Thos,  415. 
Melvin,  Thayer,  402. 
Meredith,  Mrs.  Annie  C,  414. 
Milligan,  L.  P.,  252. 
Montgomery,  J.  B.,  346,  419. 
Moodey,  R.  S..  48. 
Moorhead,  J.  K.,  337,  348. 
Mullen,  John,  50. 
Newman,  J.   P.,  374. 
Nicolay  &  Hay,  168. 
O'Brien,  J.  E.,  220. 
Oliver,  J.  F.,  23,  24. 
Orr,  J.  L..  87. 
Ould,  Robert,  233,  234,  237. 
Ralston,  Wm.,  47. 
Rickey,  J.  M.,  48. 
Riddle,  A.  G.,  422. 
Rockwell,  A.  F.,  283. 
Russell,  Lord,  192. 
Saflford,  A.  J.,  418. 
Sawyer,  Philetus,  346. 
Saxton,  Mrs.  Rufus,  420. 
Saxton,  Rufus,  186,  297. 
Seddon,  J.  A..  237. 
Seward.  W.  H.,  128,  187. 
Schofield.  J.  M.,  377. 
Schurz,  Carl,  306. 
Scott,  Winf^eld,  87. 
Shaler.  Charles.  54.  415. 
Sheridan,  P.  H..  312. 
Sherman,  W.  T.,  298,  332. 
Sickles,  D.  E..  73. 
Simpson.  S.  Elizabeth,  374. 
Smith,  Mrs.  J.  G.,  324. 
Smythe,  A.  H.,  30. 


Smythe,  G.  B.,  251. 
Somers,  L.  A.,  147,  350,  421. 
Southworth,  Mrs.  E.  D.  N.,  417. 
Spinner,  F.  E.,  83. 
Stoeckl,  Edward  de,  386. 
Starkey,  T.  A.,  Rev.,  375. 
Sumner,  Chas.,  117. 
Sweany,  Thos.,  351. 
Taney,  R.  B.,  64. 
Taylor,  Alfred,  40,  45,  49,  50,  66. 
Thaw,  Wm.,  25. 
Thomas,  Lorenzo,  334. 
Thompson,  Jacob,  99. 
Tinker,  G.  A.,  262. 
Townsend,    E.    D.,    117,    166,    179, 
184,  187,  189,  343,  348,  349,  354, 
373,  377,  378,  389,  409,  418,  422. 
Turner,  A.  G.,  34. 
Vallandigham,  J.  L.,  48. 
Van  Horn,  Burt,  337. 
Van  Vliet,  Stewart,  124. 
Viele,  E.  L.,  155. 
Vincent,   Thos.    M.,   35,   188,   248, 
282,  284,  290,  292,  351,  354,  378, 
384. 
Wallace,  Lew,  171. 
Weed,  Thurlow,  101. 
Weld,  Theodore   D.,   31. 
Welles,  Gideon,  187. 
Whiting,  Wm.,  185. 
Whiton,  W.  H.,  205,  206,  418. 
Wilson,  Henry,  334. 
Wilson,  W.  B.,  217,  218. 
Wood,  Wm.  P.,  Gol.,  64,  250,  370. 
Wool,  Gen.  John  E.,  108. 
Worthington,  A.  S.,  334,  361. 
Renwick,  H.  B.,  152. 
Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War, 

136,  168. 
Republican    (Party,   Platform,   Pol- 
icy),   80,    108,    109,    111,    112,    117, 
124,    335,    336,    338,    341,    391,    405, 
406. 
Republican,  The,  156. 
Resolutions,    37,    38,    132,    344,    354, 

394. 
Rice,  H.  M.,  131. 

Richmond,    138,   146,    147,    148,    150, 
152,    158,    159,    166,    172,    181,    192, 
193,    194,    197,    199,    216,    224,    229, 
231,    235,    238,    249,    253,    255,    257, 
261,    262,    267,    269,    270,    271,    273, 
276,    277,    278,    285,    302,    323,    355, 
365,    370,    379,    386,    393. 
Richmond  Dispatch,  323. 
Richmond  Inquirer,  323. 
Rickey,  J.  M.,  48. 
Riddle,  A.  G.,  422,  423. 
Riggin,  John,  219,  220. 
Riggs  and  Company,  344. 
Ripley,  Jas.  W.,  153,  159.  161.  251. 
"Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate 
Government."  83. 


Roane,  Archibald,  102. 
Robinson,  Wm.,  84,  90,  91,  93,  98. 
Rockwell,  A.  F.,  Col.,  281,  283. 
Rodgers,  John,  154,  155,  156. 
Rosecrans,    W.    S.,    Gen.,    203,    205, 

206,  207,   383,   389. 
Ross,  E.  G.,  341,  344. 
Russell,  Lord,  192. 
Russell,  W.   H.,  209. 
Russia,  116,  163,  192.  386. 
Rutherford,  Col.,  284. 


Safford,  A.  J.,  418. 

Salisbury,  233. 

Salomon,  Edward,  144,  245,  246. 

Sampson,  R.,  64. 

Sanborn,  A.  L.,  219. 

San  Antonio,  lOV. 

Sanford,  E.  S.,  167,  168,  216. 

San  Francisco,  68,  69,  70,  71,  72,  73. 

San  Gare,  71. 

San  Jacinto,  The,  121,  155. 

Santa  Clara,  71. 

Sault  Ste.  Marie,  254. 

Saunders    Farm,  276. 

Savannah,  214,  298,  373. 

Savannah,  The,  155,  230. 

Sawyer,  Philetus,  307,  346. 

Saxton,  Mrs.  Rufus,  420. 

Saxton,    Rufus,    186,    297,    298,    353, 

380. 
Schell,  Augustus,  94,  95. 
Schenck,  R.  C,  366,  381,  296. 
Schofield,   John    M.,    221,    316,    343, 

362,   377. 
Schurz,  Carl,  227,  305,  306,  313. 
Scott,  John,  400. 
Scott's  "Comments,"  105. 
Scott,  T.  A.,  127,  199,  200,  204,  205, 

206,  217,  358,  400. 
Scotland,  293. 
Scott,    Winfield,    87,    99,    105,    107, 

108,  109,  114,  115,  117,  138. 
Scranton,   219,   220. 
Secession,  21,  84,  87,  89,  91,  96,  97, 

100,    101,    102,    103,    107,    108,    112, 

135,    136,    183,    219,    276,    277,    279, 

305,    320,    391,    424. 
Secretary  of  State, 

Black,  J.   S.,  83. 

Cass,   Lewis,  82,  83. 

Seward,  W.   H.,   119,  213,  302. 
Secretary   of  the    Interior, 

Harlan,  Jas.,  303,  329. 

Smith,  Caleb  B.,  115,  119,  122,  123, 
177. 

Thompson,  J.,  98,  254. 
Secretary  of  the   Navy, 

Welles,  Gideon,  119,  138,  152,  153, 
154,    163,    165,    303. 

Toucey,  Isaac,  100. 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 


Chase,  S.  P.,  119. 
Dix,  John  A.,  101. 
McCulloch,  Hugh,  302. 
Thomas,  P.  E.,  101. 
Secretary  of  War, 
Belknap,  W.  W.,  409. 
Benjamin,  J.  P.,  229. 
Breckinridge,  J.  C,  263. 
Cameron,    Simon,    114,    115,    116, 

119,    127,    135,    136. 
Floyd,  J.  B.,  84. 
Grant,  U.  S.,  321. 
Holt,  Jos,  84,  98,  106 
Randolph,  G.  W.,  230. 
Schofield,  J.  M.,  377. 
Seddon,  J  A.,  237. 
Stanton,    E.    M.,    19,   20,    61,    117, 
118,  119,  124,  130,  132,  136,  138, 
140,  141,  143,  144,  150,   156,  162, 
165,  166,  167,  170,  178,  179,  185, 
187,  189,  196,  202,  203,  205,  212, 
214,  215,  217,  218,  221,  222,  249, 
250,  252,  255,  256,  263,  272,  273, 
275,  279,  280,  286,  289,  298,  303, 
3X2,  316,  318,  319,  320,  321,  322, 
324,  328,  329,  330,  334,  335,  336, 
337,  338,  344,  345,  348,  349,  350, 
352,  354,  356,   359,  361,  365,  366, 
367,  369,  374,  376,  377,   378,   379, 
383,  385,  387,  396,  397,  405,  406, 
417,  418,  419,  420,  426. 
Thomas,  L.,  342. 
Seddon,  J.  A.,  237. 
Senate,   United   States,   36,   83,   101, 
110,    117,    135,    190,    238,    308,    315, 
321,    322,    328,    330,    332,    333,    334, 
336,    337,    340,    341,    343,    405,    406, 
408. 
Sewall's  Point,  153,  155. 
Seward,    F.   W.,    107,   108,   279,   281, 

282. 

Seward,   W.   H.,   105,   106,   107,   111, 

112,    116,    119,    123,    124,    135,    179, 

185,    187,    194,    203,    213,    237,    258, 

260,    264,    275,    278,    279,    281,    282, 

283,    299,    301,    303,    304,    310,    312, 

367,    368,    401. 

Seymour,    Horatio,    187,    213,    241, 

242,    243,    394,    396,    397,    398,    399. 

Shaler,  Chas.,  42,  53,  54,  57,  80,  84, 

412. 
Shaler,  C,  54,  415. 
Sharon,  Joseph,  42. 
Sheldon,  G.  D.,  222. 
Shenandoah    Valley,  152,  384. 
Shepley,  Geo.  F.,  263,  297,  299,  364. 
Sheridan,   P.   H.,  220,  312,  316,  339, 

373,  391. 
Sherman,  John,  267,  331. 
Sherman-Johnston,  Terms  of  Sur- 
render, 21,  266.  288,  331. 
Sherman,  Wm.  T.,  21,  165,  188,  203, 
207,    210,    214,    245,    263,    264,    265, 


266,  267,  268,  270,  288,  289,  298, 
323,    331,    332,    373,    394. 

Sherman,  Mrs.  W.  T.,  289. 

Shields,  Jas.,  382. 

Shiloh,   143,   368. 

Ship  Island,  84,  182. 

Shotwell  Suits,  32. 

Shriver,   E.,   374. 

Sickles,  Daniel  E.,  73,  74,  78,  79,  316. 

Sickles,  Mrs.,  74. 

Sickles,  Stanton,  78. 

Sigel,  Franz,  244,  371. 

Silver  Wave,  The,  84. 

Simpson,  Matthew,  371,  372,  373, 
374,  405. 

Simpson,  S.  Elizabeth,  374. 

Sinclair,  Dr.,  45. 

"Six  Months  in  the  White  House," 
259    345    385. 

Slavery  (Slaves),  20,  21,  25,  26,  30, 
31,  54,  74,  105,  114,  116,  117,  152, 
182,  183,  184,  185,  187,  189,  232, 
258,    267,    297,    299,    306,    311,    316. 

Slidell,  John,  97,  99,  121,  122,  124, 
242. 

Smith,  Caleb  B.,  115,  119,  122,  123, 
177. 

Smith,  Gen..  131,  202,  244. 

Smith,  W.  F.,  138. 

Smith,  Wm.,  302. 

Smith,  J.  Gregory,  324,  325,  356, 
387,    392. 

Smith,    Mrs.   J.    Gregory,   324,    325. 

Smythe,  A.  H.,  30. 

Smythe,  G.  B.,  251,  252. 

Snyder's  "Great  Speeches  by  Great 
Lawyers,"  74., 

Soldiers'  Home,  203,  204. 

Somers,  L.  A.,  147,  218,  350,  421. 

Sons  of  Liberty,  249,  254. 

Sons  of  Patriots,  251. 

South  Carolina,  81,  82,  83,  84,  85, 
86,  87,  88,  89,  90,  91,  92,  93,  94, 
96,  99,  100,  102,  103,  183,  184,  297, 
305,  316,  359. 

South  Mountain,  192. 

Southworth,  Mrs.   E.  D.  N.,  417. 

South,  The  (Southern  States,  etc.), 
21,  80,  81,  83,  89,  96,  97,  98,  99,  100, 
101,  103,  106,  110,  112,  114,  188, 
189,  192,  229,  231,  232,  234,  237, 
238,  249,  250,  272,  274,  298,  300, 
304,  309,  312,  313,  316,  332,  338, 
339,  356,  357,  360,  372,  392,  393, 
394,    395,    418. 

Spain,  Spanish,  etc.,  69,  72,  215,  248, 
291,  355. 

Spalding,  M.  J.,  287,  372. 

Spalding,  The,  214,  262,  373. 

Spangler,  Edward,  286,  287. 

Sparrow,    Wm.,    349.    350,   374,   409, 

"Speeches  and  Writings  of  T.  L. 
Clingman,"  83, 


Speed,  Jas.,  282,  286,  287. 

Spinner,  F.  E.,  83. 

Springfield,   264. 

St.  Albans,  254,  324,  325. 

St.   Helena,  40,  386. 

St.  Louis,  310,  379. 

Stager,    Anson,    207,    216,    217,    218, 

219,    294,    358,    388. 
Stanbery,  Henry,  316,  340. 
Stanton,  Benjamin,  103. 
Stanton,  Bessie,  325,  400. 
Stanton,  Darwin   E.,  32,  33,   37,   45, 

79,   423. 
Stanton,   Dr.   David,  22,  23,   25,   26. 
Stanton,    Edwin    L.,   28,   38,   51,   68, 

343,    367,    384,    402,    412,    416,    417. 
Stanton,  Mrs.  Ellen  H.,  79,  107,  111, 

314,    378,    399,    403,    407,    408,    410, 

411,    412,    418. 
Stanton,  James  H.,  170. 
Stanton,  Lucy  Lamson,  36,  37,  38. 
Stanton,  Lewis  H.,  412. 
Stanton,  Mary  A.,  37,  39,  40,  66,  79, 

423,  426. 
Stanton,  Lucy  Norman,  22,  23,  25, 

30,  79. 
Stanton,  Oella,  61,  79. 
Stanton  Patch,  The,  49. 
Stanton  Street.  49. 
Stanton,  Dr.  Wm.,  276. 
Star  of  the  West,  68,  99. 
"Star  Spangled  Banner,"  73. 
Stars  and  Stripes,  Order  of,  251. 
Starkey,  T.  A.,  372,  375,  408,  409. 
Statements  by  (See  Remarks). 
Steedman,  J.  B.,  207,  323. 
Stephens,  A.  H.,  102,  257. 
Steubenville,   22,   23,   24,   31,   32,   33, 

36,    38,    39,   40,   43,    45,   47,    49,   50, 

51,  52,  54,  56,  66,  79,  252,  276,  294, 

345,    349,    361,    375,    394,    410,    412, 

414,    415,    416.    417,    426. 
Steubenville,  Bank  of,  36. 
Steubenville  Greys,  44.  46. 
Stevens,  Thaddeus,  347. 
Stevens,  The,  154,  155. 
Stewart,  Frank,  222. 
Stier's  Hall,  49. 
Stoeckl,  Edward  de,  386. 
Stone,  Amasa,  206,  400. 
Stone,  C.  P.,  133.  135,  136,  137. 
Stone,  Mrs.  C.  P.,  136. 
Stoneman,   Gen.,  365. 
Stuart,  J.  E.  B.,  172,  198. 
Sumner,  Chas.,  117,  135,  306,  409. 
Sumner,  E.  V.,  138,  149,  159,  169. 
Sumter,  Fort,  68,  85,  87,  91,  92,  93, 

95,    105,    107,    108,    112,    216,    274, 

275,    278,    280,    316. 
Sunderland,   Byron.   Rev.,  276,  372. 
Surratt,  Mary  E.,  278,  286,  287,  364. 
Surrattsville,  278. 
Swanton,  254. 


Swayne,  Justice.  212,  404,  409. 
Sweany,  Thos.,  351. 
Symington,  John,  84. 


Tailhold  Clubs,  312. 

Talbot,  Wm.,  42. 

Talbot,  Captain,  107. 

Taney,    R.    B.,   57,   64,   73,   135,   405. 

Tappan,    Judge    Benjamin,    36,    38, 

42,  44. 
Tappan,  Dr.  Benj.,  44,  56,  61. 
Tappan,  Oella  Stanton,  61. 
Tappan,  Benj.  Jr,.  348. 
Taylor,  Alfreu,  40,  45,  49,  50,  66. 
Taylor,    Gen.,    159. 
Taylor,  Hudson,  279. 
Taylor,  Zachary,  53. 
Telegrams  from 

Halleck,  H.  W.,  173. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  149,  166,  192, 
201,  359. 

McClellan,  G.  B.,  140,  151,  172. 

Morton,  O.  P.,  250. 

Sherman,  W.  T.,  245. 

Stanton,  E.  M.,  140,  146,  147,  149, 
150,  153,  154,  155,  163,  164,  166, 
167,  169,  198,  199,  200,  202,  204, 
205,  206,  207,  209,  210,  213,  215, 
226,  241,  242,  243,  245,  246,  260, 
261,  295,  362,  378,  379,  382,  383, 
398,  421. 
Telegrams  to 

Banks,  N.  P,.  382. 

Boyle,  J.  T.,  204. 

Brooks,  W.  T.  H.,  198. 

Brough,  Gov..  244. 

Burnett,  Mayor,  163. 

Burnside,  A.  E.,  382. 

Butler,  Mayor,  163. 

Cameron,  Simon.  201. 

Dana,   C.  A.,  205,  383. 

Dix,  John  A.,  213,  295. 

Ellet,  Chas.,  163,  164,  165. 

Garrett,  J.  W.,  200. 

Grant,  U.  S.,  259,  260,  362,  378, 
379. 

Halleck,  H.  W.,  163,  173,  199, 
382. 

Hancock,  W.  S.,  421. 

Hooker,  Jos.,  199,  209. 

Howe,  T.  O.,  241. 

Kelly,  Gen.,  202. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  261. 

McClellan,  G.  B.,  140,  146,  147, 
148,  149,  150,  151,  166,  167,  169, 
172,   173,   192. 

McDowell.   Irwin,  150,  160. 

Meade,  Geo.  G.,  201. 

Mitchell,  O.   M.,  382. 

Morgan,  E.  D.,  245. 

Morgan,   G.   W.,   382. 

Morton,  O.  P.,  246,  362. 


Rosecrans,  W.  S.,  383. 
Salomon,  Edward,  245,  246. 
Seymour,  Horatio,  242,  398. 
Sherman,  W.  T.,  383,  421. 
Shields,  Jas.,  382. 
Stone,  Amasa,  206. 
Thomas,  Geo.  H.,  201. 
Vanderbilt,  Cornelius,  153,  226. 
Watson,  P.  H..  154,  155,  207. 
Wool,  John   E.,   154,  382. 
Telegraph,    Military,    20,    216,    217, 

219,   222,   227,   244,  294,   388. 
Telegraph  Co.,  Western  Union,  294, 

421. 
Tennessee,    58,    167,    207,   -296,    299, 

300,  341,  343,  344,  358. 
Terry,  A.  H.,  214. 

Texas,  96,  97,  107,  316,  339,  352,  373. 
Thaw,  Wm.,  25.  .   . 

Theological   Seminary  of  Virgmia, 

349. 
Thomas,  Geo.  H.,  143,  207,  381,  383. 
Thomas,  Lorenzo.  115,  159,  161,  188, 
201,    221,    293,    333,    334,    335,    340, 
342,    343.    364. 
Thomas,  P.  E.,  86,  100. 
Thompson,    Jacob,    83,    86,    94,    98, 

101,    254,    284,    359. 
Thoms,  Wm.,  42. 
Tilton,  Theodore,  371,  392. 
Times,  Chicago,  210. 
Times,  London,  209. 
Times,  New  York,  98,  209,  210,  241. 
Tinker,  C.  A.,  217,  220,  222,  262. 
Tippecanoe,  261. 
Tod,  Governor,  135,  232,  397. 
Totten,  Jas.,  Gen.,  159. 
Toucev,  Isaac,  86,  99,  100. 
Townsend,  E.  D.,  117,  136,  166,  178, 
179,    184,    187,    189,    205,    293,    343, 
348,    349,    352,    354,    360,    373,    374, 
377,    378,    389,    402,    406,    408,    409, 
410,    412,    418,    422. 
Train,  Chas.  R.,  132. 
Treasury.   U.    S.,   37,   118,   248,  249, 

283,    332,    341,    360. 
Trent,  The,  121,  123. 
Trescot,  W.  H.,  85,  86. 
Tribune,  N.  Y.,  98,  125,  129,  132,  211, 

215,    241,    392. 
Trinity  Episcopal  Church,  66. 
Trumbull,  Lyman  M.,  143,  190,  258, 

338,   341. 
Trumbull  Amendment 

(See  Amendment). 
Tucker,  John,  127. 
Turnbull,  Jas.,  23,  24,  27,  30. 
Turner,  A.  C,  34. 
Tuscarawas  County,  32. 
"Twenty  Years  of  Congress,"  140. 
Twiggs,  D.  E.,  107,  352. 
Tyler,  John,  100. 


Umbstaetter,Theobald,    42,    54,    69, 

84,   412. 
Union  League,  251,  280,  409. 
Union  Relief  Society,  249,  250. 
Union,   The,   20,   21,   68,   81,   82,   83, 
84,  85,  89,  90,  91,  92,  96,  101,  102, 
108,    109,    112,    114,    117,    118,    125, 
132,    137,    138,    177,    184,    189,    192, 
196,    217,    218,    222,    236,    239,    240, 
246,    258,    263,    273,    291,    296,    299, 
301,    307,    309,    316,    339,    350,    356, 
358,    359,    363,    368,    371,    372,    392, 
393,    394,    398. 
United  States 

Army,   20,   21,   156,   197,   355,   364, 

369,    384,    409. 
Arsenal,  101. 
Bank  of  Pittsburg,  43. 
Circuit  Court,  82. 
District  Attorney,  67,  73. 
District  Court,  62. 
Federal  Court,  62,  79,  101. 
Military    Railroads,   20,   198,   204, 

223,  226,  227,  295,  418. 
Military  Telegraph,   20,   216,   217, 

219,  222,  227,  244,  294,  388. 
Navy,  20,  111,   152,   153,   154,   156, 

163,  355,  409. 
Navy  Yard,  155,  156. 
Senate,  36,  83,   101,  110,  117,  190, 

238,  308,   315,  321,  322,  328,  330, 

332,  333,  334,  336,  337,  340,  341, 

343,  405,  406,  408. 
Supreme  Court,  55,  57,  57,  59,  61. 

63,    64,    67,    68,    71,    80,    105,    106, 

107,  112,  135,  252,  253,  264,  269, 

271,   326,  368,   376,  386,  405,   407, 

412,  426. 
Treasury,    37,    44,    101,    128,    186, 

248,  249,  283,   332,  341,   360. 
United   States,  The,  26,  27,  37,  43, 
59,    61,    67,   71,   82,    88,    91,    92,   94, 
96,  98,  107,  108,  110,  121,  127,  128, 
133,    134,    143,    176,    184,    185,    186, 
187,    188,    192,    208,    223,    229,    230, 
231,    232,    234,    235,    236,    237,    244, 
246,    251,    264,    266,   267,    269,    270, 
273,    282,    296,    297,    299,    301,    302, 
303,    311,    318,    321,    326,    357,    370, 
371,    379,    394,    395,    397. 
Usher,  J.  P.,  282. 
V 

Vallandigham,  C.  L.,  131,  249,  250, 

252. 
Vallandigham,  Jas.  L.,  48. 
Van  Alen,  J.  H.,  210. 
Van  Buren,  Martin,  38,  42,  53,  54. 
Vanderbilt,  Cornelius,  152,  153,  226. 
Vanderbilt,  The,  153,  154,  155. 
Van  Horn,  Burt,  337. 
Van  Vliet,  Stewart,  124. 


Van  Winkle,  P.  G.,  341. 

Vermont,  324,  356,  387,  392. 

Vickers,   Geo.,  344. 

Vicksburg,  165,  200,  231,  232,  238, 
401. 

Vide,  E.  L.,  154,  155. 

Vincent,  Thos.  M.,  35,  156,  188, 
248,  281,  282,  284,  290,  292,  294, 
351,  354,  378,  381,  384,  404,  408, 
412,    422. 

Vincent,  Mrs.  T.  M.,  381. 

Virginia,  21,  23,  25,  26,  37,  45,  46, 
54,  58,  59,  62,  63,  85,  96,  101,  103, 
107,  114,  117,  133,  144,  157,  164, 
193,  194,  205,  206,  209,  222,  223, 
227,  231,  266,  269,  270,  272,  282, 
302,  303,  316,  349,  361,  364,  365, 
402. 

Vogdes,  Israel,  100. 

W'ade,  B.  F.,  119,  136,  341,  387,  421. 

Wadsworth,  Jas.  S.,  149. 

Wakeman,  Postmaster,  241. 

Wall  Street,  216,  353,  396. 

Wallace  (partner),  42. 

Wallace,  Lew,  171,  388. 

Walter,  Father,  287. 

Walworth,   Chancellor,  57. 

War  Department,  20,  48,  84,  92,  110, 
115,  117,  118,  119, 
127,  128,  129,  130, 
145,  150,  151,  153, 
165,  166,  167,  169, 
179,  185,  188,  190, 
203,  208,  209,  210, 
216,  217,  218,  221, 
242,  248,  249,  251, 
271,  272,  273,  274, 
294,  295,  303,  309, 
323,  326,  330,  331, 
336,  337,  341,  342, 
351,  352,  353,  354, 
363,  365,  373,  374, 
381,  382,  383,  384, 
394,  409,  411,  417, 
424,    425. 

"War  Powers  under  the  Constitu- 
tion," 184,  294. 

War,  Secretary  of  (see  Secretary 
of  War). 

Warren,  Fort,  121,  252. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  21,  23,  27,  33, 
35,  44,  45,  54,  56,  61,  62,  63,  64, 
67,  73,  79,  82,  83,  85,  88,  90,  96, 
97,  98,  100,  102,  103,  104,  107,  109, 
110,  115,  118,  120,  121,  122,  124, 
126,  128,  131,  139,  144,  148,  149, 
150,  152,  153,  154,  156,  157,  158, 
159,  161,  163,  165,  166,  170,  175, 
176,  178,  179,  180,  181,  183,  186, 
188,  189,  191,  192,  194,  195,  197, 
199,    801,    203,    204;   205,    207,    310, 


,     131, 

132, 

139, 

,    154, 

162, 

163, 

,    170, 

173, 

176, 

,    194, 

197, 

198, 

,    211, 

212, 

213, 

,    225, 

226, 

230, 

,    253, 

261, 

265, 

,    285, 

289, 

291, 

,    320, 

321, 

322, 

,    333, 

334, 

335, 

,    343, 

347, 

350, 

,    356, 

357, 

362, 

,    378, 

379, 

380, 

,    385, 

387, 

391, 

,    418, 

419, 

422, 

212,  213,  216,  217,  219,  222,  226, 
227,  245,  246,  249,  250,  252,  257, 
259,  261,  264,  266,  267,  268,  270, 
271,  273,  274,  275,  276,  277,  279, 
281,  286,  287,  293,  305,  309,  310, 
313,  316,  325,  331,  334,  340,  342, 
344,  345.  349,  350,  C51,  352,  353, 
356,  357,  358,  361,  363,  365,  370, 
372,  373,  374,  375,  377,  379,  380, 
381,  383,  386,  387,  388,  389,  390, 
394,  395,  397,  401,  403,  409,  411, 
412,  415,  418,  420,  421. 

Washington,   Geo.,   195. 

Washington  Township,  33. 

Waterloo,    129. 

JVatchmafi,  Ohio,  210. 

Watervliet  Arsenal,  87,  198. 

Watson,  Peter  H.,  64,  65,  68,  70, 
89,  90,  116,  127,  154,  155,  176,  184, 
207,  211,  293,  295,  313,  314,  350, 
351,  358,  399,  400,  402,  404,  412, 
421,    422. 

Watson,   Mrs.   P.   H.,  314,  401,   404. 

Wayne,  Justice,  57. 

Weed,  Thurlow,  94,  98,  101. 

Weitzel,  Godfrey,  261,  262,  263,  266, 
269,   270,  271,  386. 

Weld,  Theodore  D.,  31. 

Welles,  Gideon,  119,  152,  153,  163, 
165,    177,    187,    255,    260,    282,    315. 

Wellsville,  55. 

Western  Union  Telegraph  Com- 
pany, 294,  421. 

West  Point,  196,  201,  207,  224,  273, 
295,   358,   366. 

West  Virginia,  50,  266,  276,  341.  362, 
402. 

Westminster  Review,  368. 

Wheatland,  105,  109,  131. 

Wheeling,  25,  42,  54,  55,  57,  58,  144, 
351,  362,  401,  402. 

Wheeling  Bridge  Case,  20,  53,  54, 
351,  385. 

Wheeling  &  Belmont  Bridge  Com- 
pany, 54,  351. 

Whig,   33,   36,   37,   53. 

White  Camelias,  312. 

White  House,  19,  86,  88,  98,  102, 
201,  212,  217,  259,  283,  284,  305, 
308,  310,  320,  321,  330,  331,  338, 
341,  345,  357,  385,  388,  405,  406, 
407,   421,   426. 

White  House,"  "Carpenter's  Six 
Months  in  the,  259,  345,  385. 

Whitehall,  254. 

White,  Horace,  98. 

White  Leagues,  312. 

Whiting,  Wm.,  185,  294. 

Whitney  vs.  Mowry,  404. 

Whiton,   W.    H.,   204,   205,   206,   418. 

Wigfall,   L.  T.,  97,  109,   110. 

Will,   last,  411.   412. 

Wilkes,  Chas.,  121. 


Willard's   Hotel,  89,  3G6. 
Williams,  Gen.,  364,  365. 
Williamsport,  203. 
Wilmington,  210,  214. 
Willoughby's  Point,  155. 
Winchester,  158,  159. 
Wilson,    Geo.,   84. 
Wilson,  Henry,  334. 
Wilson,  Samuel,  38. 
Wilson,  W.  B.,  217,  218. 
Wirz,  Capt.  Henry,  236. 
Wisconsin,  62,  89,  135,  144,  240,  241, 

245,    246,    307,    326,    343,    346,    354, 

356,    384,    405. 
Witt,  Stillman,  400,  401,  402,  403. 
Wolcott,  C.  P.,  295,  367. 
Wolfboro,  N.  H.,  403. 
Woman's  Relief  Corps,  365,  371. 
Wood,   Benj.,   253. 
Wood,  Fernando,  97,  253,  255. 


Wood,    Wm.    P.,    63,    64,    233,    250, 

276,  294,  295,  370. 
Woodward,  G.  W.,  243,  391. 
Wool,  Fort,  155,  382. 
Wool,  John    E.,   108,    147,    154,    155, 

156,  229,  230,  355,  382. 
World,  N.  Y.,  212,  213. 
Wormley,  126. 
Worthington,    A.    S.,   333,    334,    340, 

361. 
Worthington,  D.  B.,  361. 
Wright,  Dr.,  D.  M.,  219. 
Wylie,  Andrew,  287,  412. 


York,  198. 
York  River.  146. 
Yorktown,  148,  149,  150,  155. 


Zachos,  John  C,  66. 


!1 


^A\  - . 


